Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jul 6, 2022; 10(19): 6609-6616
Published online Jul 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i19.6609
Penile metastasis from rectal carcinoma: A case report
Jun-Jie Sun, Shi-Yu Zhang, Jun-Jie Tian, Bai-Ye Jin
Jun-Jie Sun, Shi-Yu Zhang, Jun-Jie Tian, Bai-Ye Jin, Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 311000, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Sun JJ and Zhang SY contributed to manuscript writing and editing, and data collection; Tian JJ contributed to data analysis; Jin BY contributed to conceptualization and supervision; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bai-Ye Jin, PhD, Chief Doctor, Department of Urology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 311000, Zhejiang Province, China. 1189006@zju.edu.cn
Received: December 2, 2021
Peer-review started: December 2, 2021
First decision: February 7, 2022
Revised: February 15, 2022
Accepted: May 7, 2022
Article in press: May 7, 2022
Published online: July 6, 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Metastasis to the penis is an unusual event, and penile metastasis from rectal carcinoma (PMRC) is extremely rare and associated with a dismal prognosis. Thus far, approximately 80 cases have been reported.

CASE SUMMARY

Herein, we report the case of a 49-year-old man with PMRC. The patient presented to the urology clinic with a complaint of penile pain during urination. The patient underwent the Dixon operation for rectal carcinoma 2 mo before the presentation. During hospitalisation, abdominal computed tomography revealed a nodular lesion on the left penis. The postoperative pathological examination revealed a typical intestinal-type adenocarcinoma. Previous cases of PMRC were retrieved from PubMed to characterise the clinicopathological features and identify the prognostic factors of PMRC.

CONCLUSION

The analysis suggested that approximately 24 mo is the median time to metastasis occurrence and 150 d is the survival time after diagnosis. Furthermore, poor pathological differentiation, lymph node involvement of the primary RC, metastasis time < 6 mo, penile metastatic nodule diameter > 1 cm, and treatment abandonment are negative predictors of survival outcomes. Close follow-up, surgical resection, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy may potentially improve the prognosis of patients.

Keywords: Rectal carcinoma, Penile metastasis, Risk factors, Prognosis, Case report

Core Tip: Rectal carcinoma (RC) is a clinically common malignant tumour. Mainstream treatment methods are chemotherapy and surgery. Clinically, the liver is the most common metastatic site of RC. We report a rare case of penile metastasis from RC following a Dixon operation. Combined with the analysis of the cases indexed in PubMed, urinary discomfort occurring within 6 years after surgery is a concern. Early detection of suspicious lesions is a favourable factor for patient survival. After the discovery of penile metastasis, providing appropriate active treatment has positive effects on the prognosis of patients. The treatment plan should be based on the patient’s response to chemotherapy or radiotherapy, general condition, and willingness to choose the current best treatment. However, clinicians should avoid negative treatment.