Penectomy for the Treatment of Penile Cancer: A Brief History
The first known case of cancerous growths on the genitals was reported in 1867. At that time it was called “penile tumor”. Later in 1969, a man named George Dendlejohn died from metastatic prostate cancer at age 46. Since then there have been many cases of cancers growing on the genitalia.
Today, these tumors are called “gonococcal infections” or “GON” (pronounced goon). Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in the United States. It affects men and women equally, but men are much more likely to contract gonorrhea than women. According to CDC statistics, 1 out of every 6 American males will get gonorrhea during their lifetime. Most people do not even realize they have contracted this disease because it usually goes undetected until it’s too late. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that gonorrhea causes over 700,000 new cases of STDs each year in the U.S., which results in $15 billion dollars in medical costs alone.
In fact, gonorrhea is so prevalent that it has become a public health crisis. One reason why gonorrhea is such a problem is due to its high rate of transmission through sexual contact. It is transmitted from person to person through sexual fluids, such as blood, saliva, or, in most cases, seminal fluid. A man with gonorrhea usually infects a woman during vaginal or even just before or after ejaculation (pre-ejaculate fluid can also contain the disease).
Fortunately, gonorrhea has been treatable with different forms of antibiotics for decades. The first treatment was called “Gonocaine” and was used in the late 1800s. In 1908, a drug called “Formalin” was used to cure gonorrhea. The most common treatment today is called “Cipro.” It is a very effective antibiotic that can easily be taken orally or even injected directly into the blood stream.
Sources & references used in this article:
Sexual function after partial penectomy for penile cancer by FR Romero, KRP dos Santos Romero, MAE de Mattos… – Urology, 2005 – Elsevier
Long-term followup of penile carcinoma treated with penectomy and bilateral modified inguinal lymphadenectomy by CAL D’ANCONA, RG De Lucena… – The Journal of …, 2004 – auajournals.org
Quality of life after partial penectomy for penile carcinoma by CAL D’ancona, NJ Botega, C De Moraes… – Urology, 1997 – Elsevier
Sexual outcomes after partial penectomy for penile cancer: results from a multi-institutional study by S Sansalone, M Silvani, R Leonardi… – Asian journal of …, 2017 – ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Management of ischemic penile gangrene: prompt partial penectomy and other treatment options by IN Chiang, SJ Chang, YC Kuo, SP Liu, HJ Yu… – The journal of sexual …, 2008 – Elsevier
Glanuloplasty with scrotal flap for partial penectomy by ON MAZZA, GMJ CHELIZ – The Journal of urology, 2001 – Elsevier
Quality of life in penile carcinoma patients–post-total penectomy by R Sosnowski, M Kulpa, M Kosowicz… – … European journal of …, 2016 – ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Survival outcomes of organ sparing surgery, partial penectomy, and total penectomy in pathological T1/T2 penile cancer: report from the National Cancer Data Base by MH Kamel, J Tao, J Su, MI Khalil, NK Bissada… – … Oncology: Seminars and …, 2018 – Elsevier
Organ sparing surgery for penile cancer: a systematic review by MH Kamel, N Bissada, R Warford, J Farias… – The Journal of Urology, 2017 – Elsevier
