Parents face so many difficult decisions when it comes to having a child: decisions about nursing, sleep patterns, discipline, teaching methods and, in the case of boys, whether or not to circumcise. In addition to being the most common surgery for males in the U.S., circumcision has been practiced in various cultures for centuries. Yet when it comes to the health and best interest of your newborn, is circumcision the way to go?
HPV infection, indeed, is the major causative factor for such cancers, with smoking being the second. The claim that circumcised men are protected against such cancers is absurd. This claim was advanced in 1928 and again in 1932, by the late Abraham Leo Wolbarst, the apologist for ritual circumcision and promoter of non-therapeutic circumcision, at a time when no one had a clue regarding the pathogenesis of cancer. With the availability of the HPV vaccine, this is no longer an issue.
Clinical Professor of Pediatrics
As with HIV/STIs another example of the Groucho Marx Syndrome- Who are you going to believe NOCIRC or the published scientific evidence? You’ve heard the “counter” from NOCIRC – opinions, anecdotes, theories, arguments and myths. Here are some of the scientific references regarding genital cancer:
1. Kochen M, McCurdy S. Circumcision and the risk of cancer of the penis: a life-table analysis. Am J Dis Child 134:484-486, 1980.
2. Leiter E, Lefkovitis AM. Circumcision and penile carcinoma. NY State J Med 75:1520-1522, 1975.
3. Schoen EJ, Oehrli M, Colby CJ, Machin G. The highly protective effect of newborn circumcision against invasive penile cancer. Pediatrics 105:E36, 2000.
4. Gajalakshmi CK, Shanta V. Association between cervical and penile cancers in Madras, India. Acta Oncologica 32:617-620, 1993.
5. Castellsagué X, Bosch FX, Muños N, Meijer CJ, Shah KV, de SanJosé S, Eluf-Neto J, Ngelangel CA, Chichareon S, Smith JS, et al. Male circumcision, penile human papillomavirus infection, and cervical cancer in female partners. N Engl J Med 346:1105-1112, 2002.
6. Gajalakshmi CK, Shanta V. Association between cervical and penile cancers in Madras, India. Acta Oncologica 32:617-620, 1993.
Check out this evidence then compare with NOCIRC claims and myths.
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