Looking past the obvious: experiences of altered masculinity in penile cancer

Abstract

That men should have an altered sense of masculine identity following penile cancer surgery is not unexpected. However, the ways in which altered masculinity manifested itself were both subtle and insidious. The results have implications for clinical practice and demonstrated the need for further research.

Engaging men with penile cancer in qualitative research: reflections from an interview-based study

“…In common with findings from a Welsh study (Bullen et al, 2010) men's narratives of masculinity were interlaced with a hegemonic discourse of stoicism, independence, robustness and resiliency. Some researchers have found that this enactment of 'maleness' is a barrier to the in-depth, nuanced account of experiences that interviews seek (Oliffe and Mróz, 2005).…”

“…The standard treatment is to surgically remove the primary tumour; the extent of the excision is determined by the size and staging of the cancer (Pizzocaro et al, 2010). Whilst treatment is usually effective, the physical and psychological effects can be profound (Opjordsmoen and FossÅ, 1994), impacting not only on the form and function of the penis (Maddineni et al, 2009, Branney et al, 2011 but also on the self-image and mental well-being of those receiving treatment (Ficarra et al, 2000, Romero et al, 2005, Bullen et al, 2010.…”

“…Qualitative research, such as in-depth interviewing is being recognised as providing an ideal tool for exploring patient experience and the complexities of men's subjective lives (Hutchinson et al, 2002) and particularly apt when the topic being researched is of a sensitive nature (Elmir et al, 2011). The growing body of qualitative research focused around men's experiences of ill health would indicate, counter to many false assumptions, some men will talk about their ill health (see for example (Ervik and Asplund, 2012, Bullen et al, 2010, Oliffe et al, 2010 but, with the notable exception of Oliffe and Mróz's (2005) guidance paper, there is limited practical advice for researchers on how to engage men in qualitative research.…”

Clinical practice as research for a rare condition: systematic research review of qualitative research exploring patients’ experiences of penile cancer

“…The Welsh study that met our inclusion criteria [8][9][10] provides an example of how we could explore quality of life after treatment for penile cancer; one-on-one semi-structured interviews guided by 6-8 questions, which encourage the participant to talk about their experiences. Nevertheless, there are a wide range of qualitative data collection and analytic methods available [21] , which often draw upon unique ways of thinking about and exploring the world.…”

“…Only one Welsh study by Bullen et al, reported across three publications [8][9][10] , met our inclusion criteria and therefore a synthesis was impossible. There were 5 borderline studies (across 8 publications [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] ) from 4 countries (see Table 1).…”