Does circumcision after age 35 prevent prostate cancer?

With each passing day, scientists manage to learn more and more about malignant tumors and also how they can prevent their occurrence. More recently, they found that circumcision can reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.

Andrea Spence and her team from the University of Montreal, Canada, conducted a survey among 2,114 men. Half of the participants were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and the control group was formed from the rest.

All the men were asked questions about their lifestyle and any medical problems they might have. The survey included a question about whether they had been circumcised and, if so, at what age.

In circumcised men, the risk of developing prostate cancer was 11% lower. And for those in whom the procedure was performed before the first year of life, the probability of the disease occurring was 14% lower.

Removing the foreskin of the penis at a young age also provided protection against the most aggressive forms of the malignancy.

In addition, men who were circumcised aged 35 and older had a 45% lower risk of developing prostate cancer compared to uncircumcised men. p>

Prostate cancer is extremely rare among Jews and Muslims, most of whom are circumcised.

The three main risk factors currently identified for malignancy are age, family history, and also ethnicity /black/.

Among black participants, the disease was 1.4 times more common than white participants. It is interesting to note that the protective effect of circumcision was most pronounced precisely among blacks. In them, the risk of developing this type of cancer decreased by as much as 60%.

Scientists do not know exactly how circumcision can prevent the development of prostate cancer.

Nevertheless, many studies show that circumcision procedure lowers the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections.

“The inner surface of the foreskin of the penis is a mucous membrane through which bacteria that cause infection easily penetrate,” says Dr. Parent.

Therefore, removal of this foreskin significantly reduces the risk of infections, which may also affect the development of prostate cancer later.

Thus, the identification of new risk factors influencing the development of tumors will in the future help to create new methods for their prevention and treatment.