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March 12, 2012

Circumcision Linked to Lower Prostate Cancer Risk

Men who are circumcised may have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of Washington surveyed 1,754 men with prostate cancer, and 1,645 similar men who did not have the disease.

They found that those who had been circumcised before they first had sexual intercourse were 15 percent less likely to have prostate cancer.

"These data suggest a biologically plausible mechanism through which circumcision may decrease the risk of prostate cancer," said study researcher Dr. Jonathan Wright, an assistant professor of urology at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He noted that the study was observational; it did not show a cause-and-effect link.

Still, the reason for the findings might be that men who are uncircumcised are more likely to contract sexually transmitted infections. The inflammation caused by those infections may in turn be involved in the development of prostate cancer, the researchers said.

The study appears today (March 12) in the journal Cancer.

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