Doctors baffled after man grows ‘horn’ from tip of his penis

A 43-year-old is one of six men in the world in the past 120 years to develop a rare condition on his manhood that initially left doctors stumped.

A man baffled doctors after presenting with a five centimetre “horn” that had grown out from the tip of his penis.

The unidentified 43-year-old male sought medical advice after the “hard” and “yellowish-brown” growth sprouted from his genitalia.

Incredibly, the Chinese man had already been to the doctors three years earlier with a similar condition.

The mass had previously been surgically removed when it was the size of a grain of rice.

But astoundingly, it had since grown back to become 5.5cm by 3cm in size.

Surgeons in Taiyuan, north east China, successfully removed the cancerous horn and the patient had since fully recovered according to a recent entry in the Asian Journal of Surgery.

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Doctors in China were baffled when a man presented with a bizarre growth on his penis. Picture: iStock

Medical professionals do not know what causes the condition, which has only been reported six times in the last 30 years.

Urologists at The Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University diagnosed the man with a cutaneous horn – a hard cone-shaped lump that protrudes from the skin.

The build-up is made from keratin, which is the same protein that forms hair, nails and the outer layer of skin.

The bizarre condition is often likened to that of an animal horn, as it is usually spotted on the head and face.

However, there have been incidents of horns appearing on the chest, neck, shoulders and penis.

The man had grown a 5.5cm horn from the tip of his manhood. Picture: Asian Journal of Surgery

Describing the case, doctors stated the patient first noticed the horn three years earlier, when it was the size of a grain of rice.

It was removed, but over the following 36 months, it grew back bigger and more painful than before.

The “hard” horn extended from just under the foreskin and past the urethra, doctors reported.

It was smooth at the top and rough at the base, “where there were several mass-like protrusions”, they stated.

Analysis of the tissue confirmed the man had squamous cell carcinoma, which is the second most common form of skin cancer.

This type of cancer can appear as raised growths from the skin, scaly red patches, open sores or thickened wart-like skin.

The man has since fully recovered, with the procedure successfully clearing him of the cancerous growth.

The rare growth was successfully removed – but is one of only six cases in 120 years. Picture: iStock

His doctors said he had no history of sexually transmitted diseases and was not taking any medication, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

Just five cases of penile cutaneous horns have previously been reported in medical literature since 1990.

The new report brings the total to six, with three being spotted in China and one in each of India, Spain and the US.

The doctors suggested that having tight or excess foreskin are risk factors, as are penile injuries, poor hygiene and STIs.

Penile horns often develop within a year of undergoing circumcision, leading urologists to believe that the procedure may trigger the growth.

Originally published as Doctors baffled after man grows ‘horn’ from tip of his penis