Two case control studies indicate that if men are circumcised before having sexual intercourse for the first time, they have a lower prevalence of both less and more aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
The findings were published in the journal Cancer.
Researchers speculated that these findings lend added weight to the working theory that sexually transmitted infections (STIs) play a role in prostate cancer etiology, since infection and inflammation might play a role in the development of prostate cancer in certain men.
Circumcision appears to reduce the risk for acquiring STIs, suggesting it also therefore may reduce prostate cancer risk down the road.
This is not the first study to hint at a link between prostate cancer etiology and sexually transmitted infections, and it is far from the first cancer to possibly have its origins in a virus.
Source: Cancer
