The Christie penile cancer service is recognised nationally and internationally for its leadership in penile cancer care, research and service development.

As a high-volume specialist centre, our clinicians help shape how penile cancer is diagnosed and treated across the UK and Europe, through guideline development, research leadership, service design and international collaboration.

Shaping national and international standards

Our team plays a central role in improving care beyond our own patients, including:

  • Development and authorship of international penile cancer guidelines for:
    • Joint European Association of Urology (EAU) and American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Guideline for Penile Cancer.
    • European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) guidelines for Penile Cancer
  • Senior leadership roles within UK professional bodies, including:
    • Chair of the BAUS Section of Andrology and Genito-Urethral Surgery
    • Urology Associate Surgical Specialty Lead (Penile & Testis Cancer) for the Royal College of Surgeons
    • Supporting partner of ERN eUROGEN Workstream 3, contributing to European networks for rare genital cancers
    • Rare Cancer Lead for Greater Manchester Cancer
  • Contribution to the UK national service specification for penile cancer, helping design specialist services
  • Leadership within national referral networks and audit programmes

Research leadership and innovation

Research is central to everything we do. Working closely with the Manchester Cancer Research Centre, The University of Manchester, Cancer Research UK and the National Biomarker Centre, our teams lead studies that translate scientific discovery directly into patient benefit.

Our leadership includes:

  • Integrated tissue collection throughout the patient journey for consented patients, through The Christie biobank. This gives us access to one of the largest libraries of penile cancer samples worldwide.
  • Leadership and co-applicant roles in national trials, including VELRAD, EPIC etc.
  • Delivery of early-phase and translational clinical trials
  • Development of diagnostic technologies and patient-reported outcome programmes
  • A featured Manchester Cancer Research Centre Impact Study highlighting advances in penile cancer diagnosis and treatment
  • Active collaboration with centres across the UK, Europe and worldwide

The Christie penile cancer service carried out a systematic review examining the clinical evidence for lymph node-positive penile cancer.  This led to changes in treatment guidelines and an Impact Award for the team. You can read the story on the Manchester Cancer Research Centre website.

Surgical expertise at the forefront

We are 1 of only 2 UK centres offering minimally invasive inguinal lymph-node dissection, alongside robotic and sentinel node techniques, helping reduce complications while maintaining cancer control.

Our service also delivers:

  • Penile-preserving cancer surgery
  • Advanced genital reconstruction
  • Joint surgical and oncology clinics
  • Access to Phase 1 trials through The Christie Experimental Cancer Team (ECMT)
  • Specialist lymphoedema pathways
  • Integrated plastic surgery and oncology care

A global training hub

The Christie penile cancer service is an international training centre. We have hosted fellows and visiting clinicians from all over the world including Australia, China, India, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Switzerland, Pakistan, and Portugal, supporting knowledge exchange and helping raise standards of care worldwide. Many of these have gone on to run successful penile cancer programs in their own countries.

Why this matters for patients

Our leadership means:

  • Your care follows the most up-to-date international standards
  • You may access innovative treatments and clinical trials
  • Surgical techniques and recovery programmes continue to improve
  • Decisions are informed by experience from one of the UK’s busiest specialist services