Technical management of inguinal lymph-nodes in penile cancer: open versus minimal invasive

Abstract

Inguinal lymphadenectomy (ILND) remains the standard of care for patients with invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the penis, dictating patient prognosis, adjuvant therapies, and surveillance strategies. Importantly the performance of an ILND has been shown to improve cancer-specific outcomes, providing a modifiable factor for patients with an aggressive malignancy. Surprisingly, the procedure remains underutilized, mainly due to the high surgical morbidity associated with the procedure. The open lymphadenectomy technique has undergone several modifications over the last 30 years to minimize its associated surgical morbidity, but wound-related complications remain significant. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) techniques have been recently introduced to help mitigate wound-related complications associated with open lymphadenectomy, with promising results. In this review, we highlight the importance of ILND, present a detail review of the surgical and oncological outcomes associated with open, laparoscopic and robotic ILND for patients with penile cancer.