A new study presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine has suggested that men who have curved penises have higher risks of developing different forms of cancer than those whose penises are totally straight.
Scientists in the Baylor College in Houston analyzed data from around 1.5 million men and found critical links between Peyronie’s Disease — a condition that makes the penis to curve when erect — and stomach, skin, and testicular cancers.
After this, the researchers recommended men suspecting to have the disease to often check with their doctors. Thus, avoiding possible chances to develop cancers without their knowledge.
According to the study, men suffering from the disease have 40 percent of developing testicular cancer, 29 percent for melanoma, and 40 percent for stomach cancer.
Previous research demonstrated that around 155,000 male adults in the UK suffer from Peyronie’s Disease. In the US, a 2016 study published in PLOS ONE suggested that 0.7 percent of American men have clear-cut cases of Peyronie’s and that 11 percent probably suffers from the disease.
Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine says Peyronie’s Disease affects the tissues that connect different areas in the penis. Although the majority of men who have the disease are over 40, any men at any age can develop it.
“While they’re significant in the sexual and reproductive life-cycles of these patients, linking them to other disorders suggest that these men should be monitored for development of these disorders disproportionately in contrast to the rest of the population,” Dr. Alexander Pastuszak, who led the study, said. “Nobody has made these associations before.”
Dr. Pastuszak also said that the team believes this study is critical not only because of the results they reached but also because there’s a lot of men who have the disease and are totally unaware of it.
This is the first time that scientists performed a study of this kind.
The data is clear, but scientists need more
While making further research, scientists analyzed a link between a father and son suffering from Peyronie’s disease. Thanks to the analysis of the two of them, the experts discovered a set of genes that make men more prone to urological cancers.
There’s still a lot of work to do for further understanding the connection between the disease and cancers, the lead researcher said. He believes that the team has to still “validate” the results and “translate them from the lab to the clinical population.”
However, Dr. Pastuszak added that the data provide a strong link both clinically and at “the genetic level between PD and Dupuytren’s — these fibrosing conditions — and malignancies in men.”
Also, a spokeswoman for Cancer Research UK, Emma Shields, said that Peyronie’s might be linked to different forms of cancer. However, scientists need to know more about what causes this condition. According to her, screening for cancer “isn’t always beneficial and comes with harms,” so it’s very important that “screening programmes are backed by robust evidence.”
Source: Telegraph