A NEW analysis of 3,399 male suggests that men who are circumcised before their first sexual intercourse may have a 15% lower risk of developing prostate cancer.
The finding shows that the removal of the foreskin may protect men against the disease, which is the most common cancer in men in the United States.
Earlier research has found that circumcised men are at lower risk of infections like HPV and herpes.
"For a long time say, 20-plus years it has been recognised that certain factors related to sexual behaviours are also related to increased risk of prostate cancer," said Dr Janet Stanford, a member of the public health sciences division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre and one of the study’s authors.
"Our study tested the hypothesis that men who are circumcised prior to becoming sexually active may be at reduced risk of prostate cancer," said Stanford.
"This follows upon the assumption that circumcision may reduce infection (and) inflammation in the prostate by reducing exposure to infectious agents that gain access to prostate tissue where they induce an inflammatory response."
Lead author Dr Jonathan L Wright added: "These are observational data that don’t prove causality."
"But there is some role for inflammation in several cancers, and this helps bolster that argument."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed a declining rate of circumcision in America from 56% in 2006 to 32.5% in 2009. These numbers do not include procedures performed outside of hospitals, including Jewish rituals performed in homes, or circumcisions not reimbursed by insurance. (Agencies)
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