Penile cancer is a malignant growth found on the skin or in the tissues of the penis, usually originating in the glans and/or foreskin. It is a rare form of cancer with an annual incidence of 1 in 100,000 in developed countries.
Signs and symptoms:
A draining sore on the foreskin or glans of the penis may be a sign of penile cancer and anyone with these symptoms should consult a doctor immediately.
Treatment:
There are several treatment options for penile cancer, depending on staging. They include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and biological therapy. The most common treatment is one of four types of surgery:
Wide Local Excision
The tumor and some surrounding healthy tissue are removed.
Microsurgery
Surgery performed with a microscope is used to remove the tumor and as little healthy tissue as possible.
Laser Surgery
Laser light is used to burn or excise cancerous cells.
Circumcision
Cancerous foreskin is removed from the penis.
Amputation
The most common and effective treatment of penile cancer is penectomy. A penectomy can range from partial to total removal of the penis. The surgeon may also decide to remove associated lymph nodes.
Radiation therapy is usually used adjuvantly with surgery to reduce the risk of recurrence. With earlier stages of penile cancer, a combination of topical chemotherapy and less invasive surgery may be used. More advanced stages of penile cancer usually require a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.
Vaccine:
A quadri-valent vaccine to prevent HPV infection, Gardasil, has been developed, successfully tested and approved for women (approval for men is expected in 2008) by the Food and Drug Administration. This vaccine, which is licenced and in production, could substantially reduce the incidence of HPV infection in men, the incidence of genital warts and ano-genital cancers, including penile cancer, and reduce mortality. It is unclear why the drug's manufacturer chose to stagger testing of the vaccine, potentially leaving many men needlessly vulnerable to HPV infection.