Subjective with ulcer, man had to amputate penis due to cancer

Two years ago, Mr. T. (45 years old, living in Cu Chi district, Ho Chi Minh City) went to the hospital for a check-up because he had a small wart on the glans penis. Doctors from the Department of Urology, Xuyen A General Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City) suspected that this wart was a malignant lesion, so they advised Mr. T. to perform a biopsy of the lesion to be able to provide the most accurate treatment direction. However, for some personal reasons, Mr. T. refused the biopsy as well as treatment.

Over the past two years, this wart has progressed and taken up the entire length of the penis, accompanied by increasingly widespread penile ulcers and swelling, causing Mr. T. pain and seriously affecting his health, psychology and physiology.

Mr. T. returned to Xuyen A General Hospital for examination. At this time, the doctors of the Department of Urology clinically examined and recorded that the lesion on the penis had spread to the scrotum. Mr. T. was assigned to biopsy the lesion, the results confirmed that he had penile cancer.

Faced with this situation, doctors performed surgery to remove the entire penis and part of the scrotal skin, and remove the inguinal lymph nodes on both sides to completely treat the tumor.

Doctors during penectomy surgery

PHOTO: BSCC

On May 18, Master - Doctor Nguyen Doan Ngoc Tran, Department of Urology, Xuyen A General Hospital said that for patient T., the penile cancer had spread to the scrotum, so during the surgery, the team had to make an effort to separate and cut the penis deep to the perineum, and thoroughly dredge the inguinal lymph nodes on both sides. Fortunately, the tumor had not spread deep into the urethra, so we were able to bring the urethra out to the perineum so that the patient could urinate later, but the patient would definitely have to urinate in a sitting position.

Four days after surgery, the patient recovered well, the incisions in the groin area on both sides were dry. Currently, the patient has a urethral catheter and it is expected that in a few days the catheter will be removed so that the patient can urinate on his own.

From the case of patient T., doctors advise men not to be subjective when there are unusual lesions in the penis area. Symptoms of penile cancer are sometimes unclear, initially just warts, small ulcers with fluid discharge, so patients often ignore or hesitate to go to the doctor, leading to dangerous complications when the disease progresses.

Therefore, men with phimosis or unsafe sex, genital warts, ulcers on the penis... should see a urologist immediately for timely treatment.

Causes of penile cancer

Penile cancer is a condition in which the penis is ulcerated, infected, and oozes fluid... for a long time, causing malignant cells in the penis to grow out of control. Penile cancer can form anywhere on the penis (including the outside and inside of the penis), but usually begins on the head of the penis or foreskin.

The cause of penile cancer is often due to HPV infection or due to men having a tight foreskin that makes it difficult to clean, thereby creating conditions for bacteria to grow, leading to the risk of penile cancer.

This disease can occur in all men, but those who get the disease are usually middle-aged. When men discover abnormalities in the skin of the penis, scrotum, foreskin such as ulcers, warts, discharge, accompanied by swollen lymph nodes, they should go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible.

Can penile cancer be cured?

Doctor Ngoc Tran said that whether penile cancer can be cured completely depends on the time of detection, the histological type of cancer cells as well as the malignancy of the cancer cells through histological examination. However, the earlier the disease is detected, meaning the cancer is in the early stage, the tumor is still localized, has not invaded the surrounding area and has not metastasized, the treatment will be easier and there is a possibility of a complete cure. On the contrary, if penile cancer is detected late, it is likely that the cancer has spread outside the penis, at which point treatment will be much more difficult.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/chu-quan-voi-vet-loet-nguoi-dan-ong-phai-cat-duong-vat-vi-ung-thu-185250518151000679.htm