Cancer in private areas - slightly concerned

I'm 17 male. Just a bit of background:

My mum told me like a year ago that if you have a mole/black spot, and you rub against it, there's a possibility of cancer. I had 2 moles/black spots, located on the sole of my 2 feet. I went to hospital and had them removed because what my mum said about cancer etc. Those moles are the dark ones which appears to be a tiny bump on the skin.

What I'm worried about atm is on my penis, there is like a mole of the skin of the actual penis. The mole/spot isnt like the ones I had on my feet where there is a little bump, its just like a tiny dark area. And I just realised I have like 3 - 4 of them, the 4th one being very faint. I could swear I had only 1 few weeks ago.

Im slightly worried because of course penis comes in contact with clothing and during sexual intercourse, wouldn't that increase the chance of me getting cancer or w/e.

I searched a bit on wikipedia, and found this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_(skin_marking)

On the last part there is a bit about cancer...

Can anyone help me out here. If you know, tell me whether it could be potential cancer, or is this cancer thing all rubbish.

Thanks so much for your time.

Reply 1

Jennybean

I dunno where your mum got that idea about the rubbing against moles thing causing cancer but I'm afraid that's fear and ignorance of a subject creating a complete myth. Cancer occurs when the normal mechanisms which tell cells to stop reproducing get switched off due to mutations in the functional proteins, which occur for whatever reason. Those reasons might include genetic factors or environmental factors, such as UV light, which is why we're all encouraged to wear sun cream. The cells then continue to reproduce, becoming the lump which is known as a tumour. New moles may become cancerous because they were always destined to become a cancerous tumour, or (more commonly) because they have undergone mutations due to exposure to UV light, but not because you rubbed against them. What you should be looking out for is a change in the shape, texture or size of the mole, differences in which may all indicate a cancerous nature. If you are concerned then by all means see your doctor but you shouldn't necessarily worry yourself over every new mole that surfaces, particularly if you naturally have that kind of skin, and certainly don't panic that manual friction will cause them to become cancerous.

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

THanks you've given me some resurrance. My uncle was the person that told my mum about it. basically he had a friend that had a mole on his waist. and he always worn a belt or w/e, and the mole was always being rubbed. and he died of cancer few years after, the cancer was where the mole was.

Reply 3

Revenged

Everyone has moles... and yet the incidence of cancers resulting from them (melanoma) is very rare... personally, i wouldn't get yourself unnecessarily worried... go to your GP if you want peace of mind...

and since you like wikipaedia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanoma

Reply 4

Anonymous #1