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It normally affects older men. Most patients are over 70 years old, and this cancer is rare in men under 40.
We don't know exactly what causes it, but you are more at risk if...
- you do not wash under your foreskin – or you can’t wash properly because you can’t pull back your foreskin far enough
- you have not been circumcised (had your foreskin removed). Circumcised men hardly ever get this cancer
- you have the genital warts virus (human papilloma virus). About one in every ten penile cancer patients has this virus
- you keep getting infections of the foreskin (balanitis). Balanitis may be caused by a fungal infection (thrush) or bacteria.
