Is Circumcision Related to Cervical Cancer Risk?
Is a woman at a higher risk of developing cervical cancer if her spouse is uncircumcised vs. a spouse that is circumcised?
Ivor Benjamin, MD, Former co-Editor-in-Chief of OncoLink, responds:
Possibly. There is some medical evidence to support an increased risk for developing cervical cancer in women who have male sexual partners that are uncircumcised. In 1993, Agarwal et al (1) reported that: "Sex with uncircumcised men or men circumcised after age 1 year increased the risk of cervical cancer (RR, 4.1)."
However, other studies have not shown a statistically significant increase in cervical cancer women with uncircumcised partners. Kjaer et al (2) reported that circumcision was a potentially importantalthough not statistically significant protective factor against cervical cancer (RR = 0.3, p = 0.18). The most significant risk determinants were a history of genital warts in the male (RR = 17.9 for ever vs. never) and ever having used condoms (RR = 0.2).