Read article Screening for penile cancer
This page tells you about screening for cancer of the penis.
Screening means testing for early stages of a disease before there are any symptoms.
Before doctors can screen for any type of cancer, they must have an accurate test to use. The test must be reliable in finding cancers that are there. But it must also not give a positive result in people who don't have cancer. This is called a 'false positive'.
At the moment, we don’t have a test that is reliable in picking up early cancers of the penis. There is no screening programme for penile cancer in the UK at the moment because
- Low number of cancers would be found
- There would be high costs involved
- The tests have risks that outweigh the benefits for the majority of people
With uncommon diseases, it is more cost effective to screen people who are at higher risk than average. But first we need to know who is at higher risk.
If you think you may be at higher than average risk, for example if you have a medical condition that increases your risk, talk to your doctor. You may be able to have check ups from time to time.
- Share this: Tweet
-
-
- Print this page
-
Email this page
Increase text size
Decrease text size
Print page
Print basket
Save pages here and print in one go
Nurse helpline
Questions about cancer? Call freephone
0808 800 4040
or email us
