title: Epidemiological aspects of penile cancer in Rio de Janeiro: evaluation of 230 cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine epidemiological characteristics of penile cancer in Rio de Janeiro, its associated risk factors and clinical manifestations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between 2002 and 2008 we evaluated 230 patients at three public institutions, considering age, ethnicity, birthplace, marital status, educational level, religion, tobacco smoking, presence of phimosis and practice of circumcision.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ages ranged from 25 to 98 years, with an average of 58.35 years. Of the 230 patients, 167 (72.7%) were from the southeast region of Brazil (which includes Rio de Janeiro) and 45 (19.5%) were from the northeast of the country. Most patients were white (67.3%), married (58.6%), smokers (56.5%) and had not completed primary school (71.3%). The predominant religion was Catholic (74.8%). Of the 46 (20%) circumcised patients, only 1 (2.2%) had undergone neonatal circumcision. Grade I tumors were present in 87 (37.8%) of the patients, grade II in 131 (56.9%) and grade III in 12 (5.3%). Lymphovascular embolization was observed in 63 (27.3%) and koilocytosis in 124 (53.9%) patients. Of the total, 41.3% had corpora cavernosa or corpus spongiosum infiltration, and 40 (17.4%) had urethral invasion. Prophylactic lymphadenectomy was performed on 56 (36.1%), therapeutic lymphadenectomy on 84 (54.2%) and hygienic lymphadenectomy for advanced disease on 15 (9.7%) patients. The median time between the lesion onset and clinical diagnosis was 13.2 months. The mean follow up was 28.8 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Most of our patients were born in this state and had low socioeconomic status. Most of them were white men, married, smokers, uncircumcised, of the Catholic faith and in their sixties or older. Their disease was in most cases diagnosed only in the advanced stages.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Mario Kroeff Hospital, Department of Urology, Souza Aguiar Municipal Hospital, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leandro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Koifman
authors.forename: Antonio J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Vides
authors.forename: Nelson
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koifman
authors.forename: João P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Antonio A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Ornellas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010412:Penile Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors