Almost a quarter of cases of penile cancer in Brazil lead to amputation

Brazil recorded, from January to November last year, 1,933 cases of penile cancer. Of those, about a quarter had to be removed because of the tumor. Data were compiled by the Brazilian Society of Urology (SBU) based on data from DataSUS.

For Alfredo Canalini, president of the entity, the total number of cases is worrying. “Brazil has numbers that are frighteningly high. They are only surpassed by countries in sub-Saharan Africa.”

The diagnoses are not very different from what was observed in other years. From 2018 to 2022, the annual average of cases of this type of tumor was 2,071.

Although the number does not show a drop, the decrease in cases of the disease is not such a difficult task. That’s because one of the main ways to avoid the tumor is the daily and proper cleaning of the organ. Canalini explains that men need to pull the foreskin, the skin that surrounds the glans, which is the head of the penis. Then, wash the region with soap and water in order to remove all the dirt that can accumulate. Afterwards, it’s important to dry.

If the man is unable to completely pull the foreskin, it is a case of phimosis. With this, the man needs to seek a doctor in order to carry out a procedure that allows the proper cleaning of the penis.

The problem is that this simple information on how to clean the organ is still not known by most Brazilians. “We need to make information available to these people, because learning how to wash the penis and use soap is a basic thing, but it is necessary to learn”, says Canalini.

In addition to cleaning, the vaccine against HPV (human papilloma virus) is another useful mechanism to prevent the tumor in the genitalia. SUS provides immunization for boys and girls aged 9 to 14 years. However, Canalini claims that boys tend to be unaware of the vaccine, which represents a problem in the prevention of penile cancer.

Amputations

In more severe cases of the tumor, amputation of the penis is necessary. According to preliminary data collected by the SBU, there were 459 registered in 2022. This is the lowest value since 2018, when there were 639 genitalia removals. Even so, the number is high: considering the total number of cases in 2022, almost a quarter of diagnoses resulted in the removal of the organ.

This fact reminds us of another challenge: early diagnosis. Complete removal of the genitalia is only necessary when the tumor is at a very advanced stage. In early moments, simpler on-site procedures can be adopted to heal the patient. Another way out, at an intermediate stage of the disease, is a partial amputation, in which only a portion of the organ is removed.

An early diagnosis involves a common routine of going to the doctor and also being aware of some signs that may be indicative of the tumor. Canalini adds that, in the beginning, the most common symptom is the appearance of a lesion in the glans or in the inner part of the foreskin. It could be a wart, for example.

Over time, the wound tends to get more and more complicated. This is a sign that the disease is advancing. Burning in the region is also a common report, in addition to a strong smell.

Cleaning, in addition to preventing, is also useful for the early detection of the disease, because the man who performs proper hygiene tends to routinely observe the genitals.

And even if it’s not the tumor, being aware of the organ is important because it could be another condition. Syphilis, for example, has as one of its symptoms, still in the primary phase, the appearance of a lesion in the genitalia.

But the amputation of the penis, although for some men it is seen as the worst scenario in the world, it is not the most tragic outcome. There are cases when the disease spreads to other regions of the body. In that case, the risk of death increases. In 2020, the last year with available information on mortality from penile cancer, there were 463 fatalities from the tumor, which represents about 22% of the total cases for that year.