To elucidate the spectrum of metastatic tumours to the penis and their clinicopathologic features.
The databases and files of 22 pathology departments from eight countries on three continents were queried to identify metastatic solid tumours of the penis and to characterize their clinical and pathologic features.
We compiled a series of 109 cases of metastatic solid tumours that secondarily involved the penis. The mean patient age at diagnosis was 71 years (range, 7-94 years). Clinical presentation commonly included a penile nodule/mass (48/95; 51%) and localised pain (14/95; 15%). A prior history of malignancy was known in 92/104 (89%) patients. Diagnosis was made mainly on biopsy (82/109; 75%), or penectomy (21/109; 19%) specimens. The most common penile locations were the glans (45/98; 46%) and corpus cavernosum (39/98; 39%). The most frequent histologic type was adenocarcinoma (56%). Most primary carcinomas originated in the genitourinary (76/108; 70%) and gastrointestinal (20/108; 18%) tracts, including prostate (38/108; 35%), urinary bladder (27/108; 25%), and colon/rectum (18/108; 17%). Concurrent or prior extrapenile metastases were identified in 50/78 (64%) patients. Clinical follow-up (mean 22 months, range 0-171 months) was available for 87/109 (80%) patients, of whom 46 (53%) died of disease.
This is the largest study to date of metastatic solid tumours secondarily involving the penis. The most frequent primaries originated from the genitourinary and gastrointestinal tracts. Metastatic penile tumours usually presented with penile nodules/masses and pain, and they often occurred in the setting of advanced metastatic disease, portending poor clinical outcomes.
Histopathology. 2023 Apr 18 [Epub ahead of print]
Luiz M Nova-Camacho, Katrina Collins, Kiril Trpkov, Andres M Acosta, Ankur R Sangoi, Mahmut Akgul, Angela Chou, Antonio Polonia, Ângelo Rodrigues, Asli Yilmaz, Delia Perez-Montiel, Fiona Maclean, Francisco Javier Queipo Gutiérrez, Félix Contreras, Howard H Wu, Isabel Alvarado-Cabrero, Inés de Torres, Irune Ruiz, João Lobo, Susan Prendeville, Manuel Manrique Celada, Liang Cheng, Laurence A Galea, Michael Hwang, Manju Aron, María García-Martos, Nicole Zalles, Maria Rosaria Raspollini, Sean R Williamson, Thomas M Ulbright, Angel Panizo
Department of Pathology, Donostia University Hospital, San Sebastian, Spain., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN, USA., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada., Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA., Department of Pathology, El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, CA, USA., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Albany Medical Center, Albany, NY, USA., Department of Anatomical Pathology, Royal North Shore Hospital and University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia., Ipatimup-Institute of Molecular Pathology and Immunology, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal., Department of Pathology, Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto, Porto, Portugal., Department of Pathology, Instituto Nacional de Cancerología, Mexico City, Mexico., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology, Sonic Healthcare, Sydney, NSW, Australia., Department of Pathology, University Hospital of A Coruña, A Coruña, Spain., Laboratorio de Patología, Clínica Universitaria Unión Médica, PUCMM, Santiago, Dominican Republic., Department of Pathology Oncology, Star Medica Hospital, Oncology Hospital, IMSS, Mexico City, Mexico., Department of Pathology, Vall d'Hebron Hospital, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain., Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School, Lifespan Academic Medical Center, and the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University, Providence, RI, USA., Department of Anatomical Pathology, Melbourne Pathology, Sonic Healthcare, Dandenong, Vic., Australia., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA., Department of Pathology, Gregorio Marañon University Hospital, Madrid, Spain., Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA., Histopathology and Molecular Diagnostics, Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy., Department of Pathology, University Hospital of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain.