Updates on the epidemiology and risk factors for penile cancer

Penile cancer is a rare neoplasm most common in men aged 50–70 years old (1,2). While it is highly treatable in its early stages, treatment usually confers significant physical and psychological consequences. Fear and embarrassment in addition to social stigma result in the delay of seeking treatment by up to 1 year in 15–50% of patients (3). The most common site for penile cancer is the glans, which accounts for 48% of diagnoses, followed by prepuce (21%), glans and prepuce (9%), coronal sulcus (6%) and uncommonly the shaft (<2%) (2). The most common histologic subtype is squamous cell carcinoma, which accounts for 95% of diagnosed lesions. Other non-squamous subtypes include sarcoma, melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and lymphoma (2). In this manuscript, we provide a contemporary update on the epidemiology and various risk factors associated with development of penile cancer