Penile cancer is a rare disease in which malignant cells develop in the skin and/or soft tissues of the penis. Cancer of the penis is cancer that starts in the penis, an organ that makes up part of the male reproductive system. If the tumor is small and near the tip of the penis, surgery may be done to remove only the cancerous part of the penis. This is called a partial penectomy.

Penile cancer may appear as a red or hardened area on the skin of the penis. The cancer can also cause the glands or lymph nodes in the groin to enlarge. As the disease progresses, the cancer cells may form a raised lesion that can sometimes cause parts of the tissue of the penis to die and erode away.

Laser surgery and Mohs' microsurgery are occasionally used for very early tumors that have not invaded into the deeper tissues of the penis. Very superficial or shallow tumors may also be treated with fluorouracil cream, a kind of topical chemotherapy, to kill the tumor cells.

 

  Symtoms

• A growth or ulcer on the penis, especially on the glans or foreskin, but also on the shaft

• Changes in color on the penis

• Skin thickening on the penis

• Persistent discharge with foul odor

beneath the foreskin

• Blood coming from the tip of the penis or under the foreskin

• Unexplained pain in the shaft or tip of the penis

• Irregular or growing bluish-brown flat lesions or marks beneath the foreskin or on the body of the penis

• Reddish, velvety rash beneath the foreskin

• Small, crusty bumps beneath the foreskin

• Swollen groin lymph nodes

• Irregular swelling at the end of the penis

• Painless sore on penis (occasionally, the lesion may cause pain)

 

 

  
   

 Treatment

Treatment depends on the location of the tumor and how much it has spread.

• Chemotherapy -- uses medicines to kill cancer cells
• Radiation -- using high powered x-rays to kill cancer cells
• Surgery - cuts out and removes the cancer
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays or other particles to kill cancer cells, and several treatments may be needed.

Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to kill cancer cells.

The goal of surgery is to remove the cancer, along with some surrounding tissue in order to make sure that the entire cancer is removed.

  Facts

 

Penectomy. The surgical removal of all or part of the penis is the most common and effective procedure to treat penile cancer that has invaded the inside of the penis.
Cryosurgery. Cryosurgery (also called cryotherapy or cryoablation) uses liquid nitrogen to freeze and kill cells.
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays or other particles to kill cancer cells, and several treatments may be needed.
A narrow beam of high-intensity light can remove or destroy cancer confined to the outermost layer of the skin.
Mohs surgery. This technique involves surgically removing the visible cancer, in addition to small fragments of the edge where the tumor existed under microscopic control

2007 Dreamers

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