In males in the UK, penile cancer is not among the 20 most common cancers, however it does exist and arguably healthcare clinicians should be more aware of the same.
In recent events, an Army officer called Mr. Brooks attended healthcare professionals on three times separate occasions in 2021, where his signs and symptoms of penile cancer was missed. Specifically, Mr. Brooks experienced a tight ring of skin around his foreskin.
For further information regarding penile cancer, please see our resource here.
On the first occasion, an army doctor diagnosed Mr. Brooks with a wart; the second time, around four weeks later, another doctor considered it to be thrush. Mr. Brooks, unhappy with the diagnoses and his symptoms ongoing, attended a Sexual Health Clinic where he was referred to a dermatologist who took a biopsy from his penis. On receipt of the results, this was when Mr. Brooks was diagnosed with penile cancer.
When Mr. Brooks was eventually diagnosed with penile cancer, he had to undergo surgery, where half of his penis was removed. However, the cancer had spread so Mr. Brooks had to undergo further surgery to have his lymph nodes removed in April.
After this, Mr. Brooks commenced on chemotherapy and radiotherapy as the cancer continued to spread. He is now considering alternative treatments which are not offered on the NHS “to stay around as long as possible”. He has been informed he may only have one year to live.
Mr. Brooks now uses a wheelchair and states:
“If I had been diagnosed earlier, I may have only ended up requiring a circumcision that could have prevented the rest of the operations and chemotherapy.
“That’s why I need to raise as much awareness for this rare and unknown cancer. So more time and research can be spent into the treatment and diagnosis of this deadly disease before it’s too late.”
Here at Oakwood Solicitors, we sympathize with Mr. Brooks position and hope his treatment is successful.
If you or a loved one has experienced a delay in diagnosis of a cancer, and/or a misdiagnosis in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us to discuss further.
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Kathryn Stitt is a Trainee Solicitor in the Medical Negligence Department, having commenced her training contract at Oakwood Solicitors in September 2021. Kathryn was previously a Paralegal in the M…
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