Table 2 Age at circumcision in patients with and without carcinoma of the penis (after Shrek and Lenowitz, 1947.)

From: The age distribution of cancer and a multi-stage theory of carcinogenesis

 

No. of men circumcised at ages:

 

Group

0–5 yrs.

6–16 yrs.

17–35 yrs.

No. of men not circumcised

White men with carcinoma of penis

0

2

5

93

White ‘controls’a

18

4

7

125

Ratio between cancer patients and ‘controls’

0.00

0.50

0.71

0.74

Estimated risks relative to risk among uncircumcised

0.00

0.67

0.96

1.00

  1. aThe most appropriate control group of the groups cited by Lenowitz and Graham (1946) has been taken to be that of white men with other tumours, excluding ‘veterans’ of World War II.
  2. Coloured men have been excluded from both groups, as the proportions in the two groups were dissimilar and it is likely that the incidence rates among white and coloured Americans are unequal.
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