ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Genitourinary Oncology
This article is part of the Research TopicDevelopment and Future of Personalized and Precision Medicine Approaches for Urologic CancersView all 4 articles
Comparison of Efficacy and Prognosis Between Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy and Adjuvant Chemotherapy in Penile Cancer Patients with Regional Lymph Node Metastasis
Provisionally accepted
Ruijian You
Shuo Wang
Yongpeng Ji
Xiao Yang
Qiang Zhao
Yudong CaoJinchao Ma
Ziyi YuYushuang CuiJinduo MaRuojing LiLiuyang Miao
Peng Du*Yong Yang- Urological department, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing, China
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Abstract Introduction The comparative efficacy of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) and adjuvant chemotherapy (AC) in patients with lymph node metastatic penile squamous cell carcinoma (PSCC) remains unclear. This study aims to evaluate the differences in efficacy and survival outcomes between NAC and AC in PSCC patients with lymph node metastasis. Methods We conducted a retrospective analysis of penile cancer patients treated at Peking University Cancer Hospital between May 2015 and December 2023. All patients had lymph node metastasis and underwent lymph node dissection. 11 patients received NAC, while 14 received AC. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and multivariate Cox regression models were used to analyze baseline characteristics, progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), and associated risk factors. Results There was no statistical difference in the baseline characteristics of patients between the two groups. In the NAC group, 4 patients achieved partial response (PR), 1 achieved complete response (CR), 4 achieved progression disease (PD), and 2 had stable disease (SD). After a median follow-up of 65.1 months, the NAC group had a shorter PFS compared to the AC group (P=0.029), while no significant difference was observed in OS (P=0.268). Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified the presence of cM stage as an independent predictor of both PFS and OS. Conclusion Penile cancer with lymph node metastasis typically carries a dismal prognosis. NAC substantially diminishes tumor size and facilitates surgical excision, whereas AC is more effective in controlling postoperative tumor progression. However, there was no significant difference in overall survival between the two treatment strategies.
Keywords: penile squamous cell carcinoma, lymph node metastasis, Neoadjuvant chemotherapy, Adjuvant chemotherapy, Progression-free survival, Overall survival (OS)
Received: 13 Apr 2025; Accepted: 18 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 You, Wang, Ji, Yang, Zhao, Cao, Ma, Yu, Cui, Ma, Li, Miao, Du and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Peng Du, dupeng9000@126.com
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