Follow-up after treatment for penile cancer
Follow-up care lets your healthcare team keep track of your health for a period of time after treatment ends. This important part of cancer care is often shared among the cancer specialists and your family doctor. They will help you recover from treatment side effects and monitor you for any signs that the cancer has come back (recurred).
Follow-up care may not seem that important to you, especially if your treatment was long or very hard. You may find the idea of follow-up care stressful because it reminds you of your cancer experience or because you are worried about what a test might reveal. Talk to your healthcare team about how you feel and about why follow-up matters. Your healthcare team is there to help.
Schedule for follow-up visits
Don’t wait until your next scheduled appointment to report any new symptoms and symptoms that don’t go away. Tell your healthcare team if you have:
- growth on the penis
- swelling of the penis
- swelling in the groin
The chance that penile cancer will come back is greatest within the first year, so you will need close follow-up during this time.
Follow-up visits for penile cancer are usually scheduled:
- every 3 to 6 months for the first year
- every 6 months for year 2
- every year for years 3 to 5
If you had treatments that didn’t remove part or all of your penis, you may need follow-up for more than 5 years because the chance of cancer coming back is higher.
During follow-up visits
During a follow-up visit, your healthcare team will usually ask questions about the side effects of treatment and how you’re coping.
Your doctor will do a physical exam, including:
- checking the penis, groin and pelvic area
- feeling the lymph nodes in the groin
Tests are often part of follow-up care. You may have:
- a biopsy to check any abnormal areas of the penis
- a chest x-ray to check for cancer that may have spread to the lungs
- a CT scan, an ultrasound or an MRI to check if cancer has spread to lymph nodes or organs in the pelvis or abdomen
- a PET scan to check if cancer has spread to distant areas in the body
If the cancer has come back, you and your healthcare team will discuss a plan for your treatment and care.
Find out more about follow-up
The following are questions that you can ask the healthcare team about follow-up after treatment for cancer. Choose the questions that fit your situation and add questions of your own. You may find it helpful to take the list to the next appointment and to write down the answers.
- What is the schedule for follow-up visits?
- How often is follow-up scheduled with the cancer specialist?
- Who is responsible for follow-up visits?
- What will happen at a follow-up visit?
- Which tests are done on a regular basis? How often are they done?
- Are there any symptoms that should be reported right away? Who do I call?
- Who can help me cope with long-term side effects of treatment?
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