Can penile cancer be prevented?

The large variations in penile cancer rates throughout the world strongly suggest that penile cancer is a preventable disease. The best way to reduce the risk of penile cancer is to avoid known risk factors whenever possible.

In the past, circumcision has been suggested as a way to prevent penile cancer. This was based on studies that reported much lower penile cancer rates among circumcised men than among uncircumcised men. But in many of those studies, the protective effect of circumcision was no longer seen after factors like smegma and phimosis were taken into account.

Most public health researchers believe that the risk of penile cancer is low among uncircumcised men without known risk factors living in the United States. Men who wish to lower their risk of penile cancer can do so by avoiding HPV infection and not smoking. Those who aren't circumcised can also lower their risk of penile cancer by practicing good hygiene. Most experts agree that circumcision should not be recommended solely as a way to prevent penile cancer.

Genital hygiene

Perhaps the most important factor in preventing penile cancer in uncircumcised men is good genital hygiene. Uncircumcised men need to retract the foreskin and clean the entire penis. If the foreskin is constricted and difficult to retract, a doctor may be able to prescribe a cream or ointment that can be applied to the foreskin to make it easier to retract. If this doesn't work the doctor may cut the skin of the foreskin in a procedure called a dorsal slit to make retraction easier.

Avoiding HPV infection

All men should do what they can to avoid infection with the human papilloma virus (HPV). In addition to decreasing penile cancer risk, this could have an even bigger impact on the risk of cervical cancer in female partners.

The 2 main factors influencing the risk of genital HPV infection in men are circumcision and the number of sexual partners. Men who are circumcised (have had the foreskin of the penis removed) have a lower chance of becoming and staying infected with HPV. Men who have not been circumcised are more likely to be infected with HPV and pass it on to their partners. The reasons for this are unclear. It may be that after circumcision the skin on the glans (of the penis) goes through changes that make it more resistant to HPV infection. Another theory is that the surface of the foreskin (which is removed by circumcision) is more easily infected by HPV. Still, circumcision does not completely protect against HPV infection - men who are circumcised can still get HPV and pass it on to their partners. The risk of being infected with HPV is also strongly linked to having many sexual partners (over a man's lifetime).

Signs and symptoms of HPV-related problems: Genital warts usually appear as a small bump or group of bumps in the genital area. They can be small or large, raised or flat, or shaped like a cauliflower. Health care providers can diagnose warts by looking at the genital area during an office visit. Warts can appear within weeks or months after sexual contact with an infected partner—even if the infected partner has no signs of genital warts. If left untreated, genital warts might go away, remain unchanged, or increase in size or number. They will not turn into cancer.