Metastatic penile cancer in a young Caucasian male: Impact of delayed diagnosis

Penile cancer is an uncommon malignancy in the developed world, with only 1200 estimated cases per year in the United States. This is usually a cancer of older men and often the diagnosis is delayed because of lack of suspicion on the part of the patient or primary care provider. We report a case of penile cancer in a young Caucasian male in whom a delay in diagnosis had a deleterious impact on outcome. We describe and illustrate how, to palliate his symptoms, the patient required a hemipelvectomy plus a total pelvic exenteration. We present this case to alert physicians of the possibility of penile cancer in young Caucasian males as well as to demonstrate the significant morbidity and mortality that can ensue from a delay in diagnosis.