What is penile cancer?
Penile cancer starts in the cells of the penis. A cancerous (malignant) tumour is a group of cancer cells that can grow into nearby tissue and destroy it. The tumour can also spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body. Penile cancer is rare.
The penis is an external male sex organ. It’s part of the male reproductive system and urinary system. Cells in the penis sometimes change and no longer grow or behave normally. These changes may lead to non-cancerous (benign) conditions such as genital warts or balanitis xerotica obliterans (BXO, also called penile lichen sclerosus).
Changes to cells of the penis can also cause precancerous conditions. This means that the abnormal cells are not yet cancer, but there is a chance that they will become cancer if they aren’t treated. The most common precancerous condition of the penis is penile intraepithelial neoplasia (PeIN).
But in some cases, changes to penile cells can cause penile cancer. Most often, penile cancer starts in flat, thin cells called squamous cells. These cells are in the skin of the penis and the head of the penis (called the glans). This type of cancer is called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the penis. SCC can develop anywhere on the penis, but it develops most often on the foreskin or the glans.
Rare types of penile cancer can also develop. These include adenocarcinoma, melanoma and basal cell carcinoma (BCC).
The penis
Cancerous tumours of the penis
Precancerous conditions of the penis
Non-cancerous conditions of the penis
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