Impact of treatment volume on outcomes for patients with penile cancer at relatively low-volume centers in Japan
OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether there are differences in treatment approaches, including complications according to the volume of treatment experience for penile cancer, and whether such differences affect patient prognosis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 196 patients with penile cancer treated at 12 university hospitals and affiliated institutions (total of 32 institutions) in the Kyushu-Okinawa region from 2009 to 2020. Cancer-specific survival (CSS) was compared between patients treated at lower-volume centers (defined as institutions with fewer than five cases during the study period) and higher-volume centers (five or more cases). The underlying factors contributing to differences in CSS were also analyzed. RESULTS: Groups treated at lower-volume and higher-volume centers comprised 39 and 157 patients, respectively. No significant differences were observed in patient backgrounds. However, among patients with clinical stage 3 disease, CSS was significantly worse in the lower-volume center group. In that subgroup, significantly fewer patients underwent lymph node dissection. There were no notable differences in other treatments or complications between the two groups. CONCLUSION: A disparity in CSS was observed specifically in patients with clinical stage 3 disease. The lower rate of lymph node dissection in lower-volume centers appears to be a contributing factor to the inferior prognosis in this group. No other differences were found in treatment or complication rates, suggesting that lower-volume centers can deliver care that is comparable to that in higher-volume centers, apart from lymph node dissection.
Authors
- Masatoshi Eto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3312-9930)
- Toshiyuki Kamoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7728-289X)
- katsunori tatsugami
- Toshitaka Shin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7015-4281)
- Keiichiro Uemura (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8239-6066)
- Naohiro Fujimoto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5256-6415)
- Shuichi Tatarano (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4224-5084)
- Masato Goya
- Tatsu Ishii
- Yoji Murakami
- Shohei Tobu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8266-6652)
- Tomomi Kamba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5255-6479)
- Yohei Shida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7504-787X)
- Shoichiro Mukai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1678-8619)
- Kazuna Tsubouchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4286-3942)
- Nobuhiro Haga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3618-5214)
- Hirofumi Matsuoka (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8799-7039)
- Ryuta Sato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5311-9927)
- Tsukasa Igawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4359-4473)
- Katsuyoshi Higashijima
- Mitsuru Noguchi
- Hideki Sakai
- Takahiro Yamaguchi
- Hideki Enokida
- Seiichi Saito
Institutions
- Kurume University (JP)
- Kagoshima University (JP)
- University of Miyazaki (JP)
- Kyushu University (JP)
- Saga University (JP)
- University of Occupational and Environmental Health Japan (JP)
- Oita University (JP)
- Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science (JP)
- Fukuoka University (JP)
- Sapporo Higashi Tokushukai Hospital (JP)
- Fukuoka University Tsukushi Hospital (JP)
- Kumamoto University Hospital (JP)
- Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center (JP)
- Beppu Medical Center (JP)
- Kumamoto Chuo Hospital (JP)
- Kishokai Medical Corporation (JP)
- Nagasaki University (JP)
- Kumamoto University (JP)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Published
- 2026-04-15
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/jjco/hyag070
- Primary Topic
- Genital Health and Disease
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00