Referral to a specialist for symptoms of penile cancer

Seeing your GP

It can be hard for GPs to decide who may have cancer and who might have a more minor condition. For some symptoms, your doctor may ask you to wait to see if the symptoms get better or respond to treatment, such as antibiotics.

You might be referred to your local hospital first. This is to see a specialist doctor called a ​urologist. The urologist would then refer you to a specialist centre if they think you might have penile cancer. Sometimes this means travelling to another hospital.

Go to information about the symptoms of penile cancer

UK referral guidelines

There are guidelines for GPs to help them decide who needs a referral. These vary slightly between the different UK nations.

Your GP will use these guidelines as well as their own experience and judgement. The following information is a summary.

Your GP should make an urgent referral if you have:

• a lump or sore (ulcerated area) on the penis that is not caused by a sexually transmitted infection (STI)

• a sore area that hasn't gone away after you have had treatment for an STI

• unexplained or continuing symptoms that affect the foreskin or the head of the penis (glans)

Read more about your urgent referral

Other symptoms

Your GP will consider any other symptoms that you are having, so do mention these. They might also take into account whether you have any risk factors that affect your chances of developing penile cancer.

If you're still worried

Sometimes you might feel that your GP is not concerned enough about your symptoms. If you think they should be more concerned, print this page and the symptoms page. Ask your GP to explain why they don’t think you need a referral.

Contact your GP again if your symptoms don't get better or you notice any new or unusual symptoms.

Waiting times

Your hospital is working towards waiting time targets. For example, a target to find out whether you have cancer or not. And there are targets to start treatment if you are diagnosed with cancer. These are slightly different depending on where you live in the UK.

Find out about other cancer waiting times