Penectomy is the surgical

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

 removal of the penis

Penis removal

In ancient civilizations, removal of the human penis was sometimes used as a means of demonstrating superiority: armies were sometimes known to sever the penises of their enemies to count the dead, as well as for trophies...

 for medical or personal reasons.
Cancer

Cancer

Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...

, for example, sometimes necessitates removal of part or of the penis. The amount of the penis removed depends on the severity of the cancer. Some men have only the tip of their penis removed. For others with more advanced cancer, the entire penis must be removed.

In very rare instances, botched circumcision

Circumcision

Male circumcision is the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin from the penis. The word "circumcision" comes from Latin and ....

s have also resulted in full or partial penectomies, as with David Reimer

David Reimer

David Reimer was a Canadian man who was born as a healthy male, but was sexually reassigned and raised as female after his penis was accidentally destroyed during circumcision. Psychologist John Money oversaw the case and reported the reassignment as successful, and as evidence that gender...

.
Because of the rarity of cancers which require the partial or total removal of the penis, support from people who have had the penis removed can be difficult to find locally.