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The landscape of penile cancer research in Germany and Austria: a survey among professors in academic centers holding chair positions and results of a literature search

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Abstract

Background

Research on penile cancer (PeCa) is predominantly conducted in countries with centralized treatment of PeCa-patients. In Germany and Austria (G + A), no state-regulated centralization is established, and no information is available on how PeCa-research is organized.

Methods

Current research competence in PeCa was assessed by a 36-item questionnaire sent to all chairholders of urological academic centers in G + A. Based on PubMed records, all scientific PeCa-articles of 2012–2022 from G + A were identified. Current research trends were assessed by dividing the literature search into two periods (P1: 2012–2017, P2: 2018–2022). A bibliometric analysis was supplemented.

Results

Response rate of the questionnaire was 75%, a median of 13 (IQR: 9–26) PeCa-patients/center was observed in 2021. Retrospective case series were conducted by 38.9% of participating clinics, while involvement in randomized-controlled trials was stated in 8.3% and in basic/fundamental research in 19.4%. 77.8% declared an interest in future multicenter projects. 205 PeCa-articles were identified [median impact factor: 2.77 (IQR: 0.90–4.37)]. Compared to P1, P2 showed a significant increase in the median annual publication count (29 (IQR: 13–17) vs. 15 (IQR: 19–29), p < 0.001), in multicenter studies (79.1% vs. 63.6%, p = 0.018), and in multinational studies (53% vs. 28.9%, p < 0.001); the proportion of basic/fundamental research articles significantly declined (16.5% vs. 28.9%, p = 0.041). Four of the top-5 institutions publishing PeCa-articles are academic centers. Bibliometric analyses revealed author networks, primary research areas in PeCa, and dominant journals for publications.

Conclusions

Given the lack of centralization in G + A, this analysis highlights the need for research coordination within multicenter PeCa-projects. The decline in basic/fundamental research should be effectively addressed by the allocation of funded research projects.

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Data availability

The data sets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors of this study would like to express their sincere gratitude to the urological chairholders of the academic centers in Germany and Austria who responded to our questionnaire, as it is only through their responses that this original work could have been created.

Funding

Matthias May certifies that all conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests and relationships and affiliations relevant to the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript (e.g., employment/affiliation, grants or funding, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, royalties, or patents filed, received, or pending), are the following: None.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Semih Sarcan and Ingmar Wolff contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Urology, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Lübeck, Germany

    Semih Sarcan & Axel Merseburger

  2. Department of Urology, University Medicine Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    Ingmar Wolff

  3. Department of Urology and Andrology, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria

    Lukas Lusuardi

  4. Department of Urology, St. Elisabeth Hospital Straubing, Brothers of Mercy Hospital, Straubing, Germany

    Anton Kravchuk, Christian Gilfrich & Matthias May

  5. Department of Urology, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany

    Jens Wiegland, Abdulbaki Yakac & Christian Thomas

  6. Department of Urology, University of Regensburg, Caritas St. Josef Medical Center, Regensburg, Germany

    Maximilian Burger

  7. Department of Urology, Otto-Von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Steffen Lebentrau

  8. Department of Urology, Werner Forssmann Hospital, Eberswalde, Germany

    Steffen Lebentrau

  9. Department of Urology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria

    Sascha Ahyai

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  1. Semih Sarcan
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Contributions

Matthias May had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Study concept and design: May, Thomas, Lebentrau. Acquisition of data: May, Thomas, Lusuardi, Sarcan, Yakac, Wiegland. Analysis and interpretation of data: May, Sarcan, Wolff, Kravchuk, Lusuardi, Wiegland, Yakac, Thomas, Burger, Gilfrich, Lebentrau, Ahyai, Merseburger. Drafting of the manuscript: May, Sarcan, Wolff. Critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content: May, Sarcan, Wolff, Kravchuk, Lusuardi, Wiegland, Yakac, Thomas, Burger, Gilfrich, Lebentrau, Ahyai, Merseburger. Statistical analysis: May. Obtaining funding: None. Administrative, technical, or material support: None. Supervision: May, Thomas, Lusuardi, Burger, Ahyai, Merseburger. Other: None.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Matthias May.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human participants

This study was approved by a positive vote from the Ethics Committee of the Technical University of Dresden (BO-EK-160042023), and we certify that the study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Sarcan, S., Wolff, I., Lusuardi, L. et al. The landscape of penile cancer research in Germany and Austria: a survey among professors in academic centers holding chair positions and results of a literature search. World J Urol 42, 12 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00345-023-04719-y

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