The prognostic significance of lymph node ratio in node-positive penile cancer

Objective To investigate the prognostic significance of lymph node ratio in node-positive penile cancer.Methods Data of 60 patients with surgically resected node-positive penile cancer from 1990 to 2008 were analyzed.All patients underwent regional lymph node dissection.The number of positive lymph nodes and lymph node ratio were analyzed as categorical variables.Recurrence free survival curves were plotted by Kaplan-Meier method and compared by the Log-rank test.Results The median number of positive lymph nodes was 2(1-27) and the median lymph node ratio was 0.0896(0.031-0.406).The more lymph nodes resected,the more positive lymph nodes were found.Log-rank test showed lymph node ratio provided better survival stratification than the number of positive lymph nodes. Conclusion Lymph node ratio may be a better prognostic factor than the number of positive lymph nodes.More studies are needed to determine optimal cutoff of lymph node ratio to define low and high risk patients.