Penile basal cell carcinoma. Report of a case and review of the literature.

We describe a 69-year-old man with penile basal cell carcinoma and review the literature on this condition. Basal cell carcinomas of the penis are rare, and there are only 26 other reported cases. There is no documented case of metastatic penile basal cell carcinoma. The one reported case of metastatic penile basal cell carcinoma actually represents urethral transitional cell carcinoma. Therefore conservative therapy with local removal is adequate treatment, and more extensive procedures are unnecessary. Ultraviolet light exposure may be an important etiologic factor for basal cell carcinomas located on sun-exposed areas. The occurrence of basal cell carcinomas on non-sun-exposed areas raises the possibility of other, not yet defined, etiologic agents.