Circumcision may lower prostate cancer risk, study says

Circumcision may lower the risk of prostate cancer by 15 per cent, according to new research.

The study, published Monday in the journal Cancer, claims that one reason may be that circumcision lowers the chance of sexually transmitted diseases, infections and inflammation that may cause cancer, said Fox News.

“From these results, we estimate that circumcision may prevent about 10 percent of all prostate cancer cases in the general population,” Fox News quoted Janet L. Stanford, a co-author of the study and research professor at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, as saying.

The study does not definitively confirm that the procedure lowers the risk of prostate cancer but the authors claim that the research is consistent with what scientists believe causes prostate cancer, according HealthDay News.

The research looked at about 3,400 men and found that those who were circumcised before the the first time they had sexual intercourse were approximately 15 per cent less likely to develop prostate cancer.

Doctors say that the research should not be a factor in deciding whether or not to have the procedure, which has been waning in popularity in recent years, conducted on a child.

In an interview with WebMD, Dr. Rick Bennett, a urologist who was not a part of the study, agrees: “I would not make the decision about circumcision based on prostate cancer risk reduction. But this is intriguing research."

Circumcision is the removal of the foreskin that covers the tip of the penis and is usually conducted just after birth. Recent research into the procedure, says HealthDay News, has shown that it may reduce risk of sexually transmitted diseases by eliminating the ability of germs to stay underneath the foreskin.