Researchers estimate that Peyronie’s disease may affect 1 to 23 percent of men between 40 and 70 years of age. However, the actual occurrence of Peyronie’s disease may be higher due to men’s embarrassment and health care providers’ limited reporting. The disease is rare in young men, although it has been reported in men in their 30s. The chance of developing Peyronie’s disease increases with age.

Some men with Peyronie’s disease (about 13 out of 100) get fibrosis in other parts of the body. The most common sites are the hands and feet. Dupuytren’s contracture, in which fibrosis occurs in the tissue of the palm, is one health problem linked to Peyronie’s disease. Dupuytren’s contracture may lead to permanent bending of the outer fingers. It isn’t clear what causes plaque to form in either disease, or why men with Peyronie’s disease are more likely to get Dupuytren’s contracture.

Cells taken from Peyronie’s plaques act like cancer cells in some ways, such as not dying normally and forming tumors when put into mice with no immune systems. But there has never been a case of Peyronie’s disease that has turned into cancer in a human.

If you have other symptoms that aren’t often seen with Peyronie’s disease, such as external bleeding, trouble peeing, or penile pain that lasts for a long time, your health care provider may take a sample of the tissue (biopsy) for further study.

The following factors may increase a man’s chance of developing        Peyronie’s disease:

• Vigorous sexual or nonsexual activities that cause microscopic injury to the penis
• Certain autoimmune and connective tissue disorders
• A family history of Peyronie’s disease
• General aging
• Diabetes-related erectile dysfunction
• Having had surgical treatments for prostate cancer