Swedish National Penile Cancer Register: incidence, tumour characteristics, management and survival

Objectives To assess penile cancer incidence, stage distribution, adherence to guidelines and prognostic factors in a population‐based setting. Patients and Methods The population‐based Swedish National Penile Cancer Register (NPECR) contains detailed information on tumour characteristics and management patterns. A total of 1 678 men with primary squamous cell carcinoma of the penis identified in the NPECR between 2000 and 2012 were included in the study. Results The mean age‐adjusted incidence of penile cancer was 2.1/100 000 men, remaining virtually unchanged during the study period. At diagnosis, 14 and 2% of the men had clinical N+ and M+ disease, respectively. Most men were staged pTis (34%), pT2 (19%), or pT1 (18%), while stage information was unavailable for 18% of the men. Organ‐preserving treatment was used in 71% of Tis–T1 tumours. Of men with cN0 and ≥pT1G2 disease, 50% underwent lymph node staging, while 74% of men with cN1–3 disease underwent lymph node dissection. The overall 5‐year relative survival rate was 82%. Men aged ≥40 years and those with pT2–3, G2–3 and N+ tumours had worse outcomes. Conclusions The incidence of penile cancer in Sweden is stable. Most men presented with localized disease, and the proportion of non‐invasive tumours was high. During the period under study, adherence to guidelines was suboptimum. The overall 5‐year relative survival rate was 82%. Older age, increasing tumour stage and grade, and increasing lymph node stage were associated with poorer survival.