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'''Penile cancer''' is a malignant growth found on the skin or in the tissues of the [[penis]]. Squamous cell carcinoma usually originating in the [[glans penis|glans]] or [[foreskin]] is by far the most common type, occurring in 9 out of 10 cases.<ref>{{REFweb
| quote= | url=http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/help/default.asp?page=22698 | title=Cancer Research UK: Types of penile cancer | last= | first= | publisher= | workwebsite= | date= | accessdate=2008-06-24
}}</ref> Penile cancer is extremely rare, and it tends to develop in men over the age of sixty.
===Circumcision myth===
The myth that [[smegma]] was a carcinogenic, and thus that [[circumcision]] would render a man immune to penile cancer, was invented in 1932 by a defender of ritual circumcision named [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]], who also believed that circumcision prevented epilepsy, paralysis, and [[masturbation]].<ref>{{REFjournal |last=Wolbarst |first=A. |author-link=Abraham L. Wolbarst |title=Circumcision and Penile Cancer. '' |journal=The Lancet'', vol. |volume=1 no. |issue=5655 (January |date=1932-01-16, 1932): pp. |pages=150-153.}}</ref> No laboratory or clinical research had been done on the subject at the time, however Wolbarst's myth found its way into early medical textbooks regardless. Although the smegma hypothesis was completely disproven by an exhaustive study by Reddy in 1963,<ref>{{REFjournal |first=D.G. |last=Reddy; |first2=I.K. |last2=Baruah. " |title=Carcinogenic Action of Human Smegma," '' |journal=Archives of Pathology'', vol. |volume=75, no. |issue=4 (April |date=1963): pp. -04 |pages=414-420.}}</ref> circumcision advocates continue to stubbornly repeat it.
===Infection with human papilloma virus===
Other risks include poor hygiene, and an increased number of sexual partners (30 partners or more).<ref>•Brinton LA, Reeves WC, Brenes MM, ''et al''. The male factor in the etiology of cervical cancer among sexually monogamous women. ''Int J Cancer'' 1989;44(2):199-203.</ref>
===Other risks===
[[Phimosis]] has been implicated as a risk factor in sexually active males, because a non-retractile foreskin may result in poor hygiene, and because men with phimosis are at higher risk for lichen sclerosus (also known as [[balanitis xerotica obliterans]]), which may also be a risk factor.<ref name="titlebmj.com Rapid Responses for Rickwood ''et al''., 321 (7264) 792-793">{{REFweb
| quote= | url=http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/321/7264/792#110919 | title=bmj.com Rapid Responses for Rickwood et al., 321 (7264) 792-793 | last= | first= | publisher= | workwebsite= | date= | accessdate=2007-12-13
}}</ref> Adult males with a non-retractable foreskin who are sexually active may want to have the phimotic condition corrected. (For conservative treatment options, see [[phimosis]].)
Symptoms include redness, irritation, a sore or a lump on the penis.<ref>{{REFweb
| quote= | url=http://www.medicinenet.com/penis_cancer/page2.htm | title=Penis Cancer | last= | first= | publisher= | workwebsite= | date= | accessdate=2008-06-24
}}</ref>
== Staging ==
Like many malignancies, penile cancer can spread to other parts of the body. It is usually a primary malignancy, the initial place from which a cancer spreads in the body. Much less often it is a secondary malignancy, one in which the cancer has spread to the penis from elsewhere. Doctors use the extent of [[metastasis]] to estimate what stage the disease is in, to aid in treatment decisions and prognosis. The stages are assessed as follows (Jackson's staging):
Penile cancer is very rare in Europe and North America, occurring in about one in 100,000 men in the latter. It accounts for 0.2% of cancers and 0.1% of deaths from cancer amongst males in the United States. However, in some parts of Africa and South America it accounts for up to 10% of cancers in men.<ref name="titleACS :: What Are the Key Statistics About Penile Cancer?">{{REFweb
| quote= | url=http://web.archive.org/web/20071030194444/http://www.cancer.org/docroot/CRI/content/CRI_2_4_1X_What_are_the_key_statistics_for_penile_cancer_35.asp?sitearea= | title=ACS :: What Are the Key Statistics About Penile Cancer? | last= | first= | publisher= | workwebsite= | date=2007-10-30 | accessdate=2007-12-13
}}</ref>
{{SEEALSO}}
* [[Cervical cancer]]
{{LINKS}}
* {{REFweb
|url=http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/
|title=Penile cancer, cervical cancer, and circumcision
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* {{REFweb
|url=https://www.doctorsopposingcircumcision.org/for-professionals/alleged-medical-benefits/cancer-of-the-penis/
|title=Cancer of the Penis
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