Background: Penile cancer is uncommon in Liberia with no record of its occurrence\nso far in the literature. Its occurrence worldwide is significantly affected\nby cultural or religious practices like childhood circumcision. Smoking,\npoor penile hygiene and inflammatory processes in the presence of smegma\nincrease the risk of its occurrence. Objective: To review the first case of penile\ncancer treated in Liberia. Materials and Method: Case report. Case\nPresentation/Report: Our index patient is a 65-year old man referred from a\nperipheral centre in acute urinary retention. He also presented with a year\nhistory of progressively expanding ulcerative penile lesion affecting the glans\nand penile shaft. Local examination of the genitalia revealed an ulcerated lesion\nextending from the glans up to the mid shaft of the penis. The peno-\nbulbar urethra was free of induration. The external urethral meatus was\ninfiltrated by the lesion. The scrotum and testes were normal and digital rectal\nexamination revealed a moderately enlarged benign prostate. Bilateral inguinal\nlymph node enlargement was elicited. A diagnosis of advanced penile\ncancer with benign prostatic hyperplasia was made. The patient had partial\npenectomy, reconstruction of new external urethral meatus and inguinal\nlymphadenectomy. The specimen was histologically confirmed to be Squamous\ncell Carcinoma of the penis; the resection margins and lymph nodes biopsied\nwere found to be adequate and tumor free respectively. Patientâ??s post\noperative recovery was uneventful and he was discharged after a week. His\nfollow up status after 6 months has remained satisfactory. Conclusion:\nThough rare, penile cancer does occur in Liberia and specialist staff with capacity\nfor diagnosing and surgical intervention remains critical to patientsâ??\noutcome. Early intervention improves the chances of better outcome; counseling\nis critical to prevent treated patient lapsing into depression.
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