However penile carcinomas have in fact been reported among circumcised men. The incidence of cancer of the penis in the United States, where most men have been circumcised at birth, is reported to be between 0 and 2.1 per 100,000, representing less than 1 percent of all cancers in men. 20 One study, reporting contradictory data, claimed that the lifetime risk in American men is 1 in 600. Thus the lifetime risk of cancer reported in this study is probably incorrect. The evidence that penile cancer has a viral cause and the disease's similar incidence rates in countries with very different rates of circumcision cast doubt on the proposition that circumcision is the most effective way to prevent cancer of the penis.
Cervical cancer presents epidemiological similarities to venereal diseases.
It is more prevalent among the poor, blacks, and Hispanic Americans. Among the sexually transmitted diseases that may be risk factors, human papillomaviruses, herpes simplex type 2 virus, cytomegalovirus, Trichomona vaginalis, Chlamydia trachomatis, spirochetes, Neisseria gonorrhoae and Mycoplasma hominis have all been suspected. Venereal transmission is further supported by the observation that the wives of men with penile cancer have a significantly increased risk of cervical cancer. Also the subsequent wives of men whose previous wives had cervical cancer have significantly higher rates than women in the general population. At present, human papillomaviruses, especially types 16 and 18, appear to play a part in the pathogenesis of the disease.