Penile Cancer: A Case Report and a Literature Review

Penile tumours are known to be the rarest tumours of the male urogenital organ, with a frequency of less than 1% [1]. Theyaccount for 0.5% of all male cancers in Europe. However, their incidence is more than 15% in certain regions of Africa, Asia and Brazil [2]. The average age of occurrence is 65 [2], but in recent years these tumours are increasingly observed in younger patients.

Several factors have been incriminated in the oncogenesis of these tumours, including, HPV and chronic bacterial infections [3,4,5,6]. Studies have shown the protective role of circumcision performed only in childhood or before puberty. Beyond this period, circumcision is irrelevant in terms of risk reduction [2,6,7].

The diagnosis is made clinically. Clinical examination is also the first step in the research on the local extension of tumours, but when this becomes difficult, imaging can be used. Squamous cell carcinoma is the most common histological type, with non-squamous tumours being the exception [6,7,8].

The best treatment for localized forms of squamous cell carcinoma is exeresis. In Africa, given the delay in diagnosis due to the negligence of patients, who consider any pathology of the genital organ a taboo, these tumoursare a serious concern in the provision of care and treatment, especially the acceptance of a potential emasculation. The care for locally advanced forms of squamous cell carcinoma can imply several protocols: chemotherapy; radiotherapy, etc., but with very unsatisfactory long-term results [6].The clinical stage of the tumour, the histological grade and lymph node involvement are determining factors of the prognostic [2,7,9].