Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle surveyed 3,339 men — about half of whom with prostate cancer — about their sexual history and cut/uncut status in the effort to find a correlation between the two and their cancer diagnoses.

And apparently they found one.

Researcher Dr. Jonathan Wright and his team discovered that removal of foreskin prior to a man's first sexual intercourse may alleviate the risk of prostate cancer by 15 percent. Specifically 12 percent of men circumcised as virgins were less likely to develop less aggressive forms while 18 percent were less at risk of encountering more severe forms.

Published in CANCER, the American Cancer Society's peer-reviewed online journal, the results suggest that circumcision can prevent infection and inflammation known to cause cancer cells to grow.

As referenced in a previous article, circumcision can hinder certain sexually transmitted infections and other related health problems, and the researchers believe this correlates with deterring cancer development.

Wright, the lead author of the paper, and his colleagues worked with 1,754 men with prostate cancer and 1,645 without to prove this theory, finding that eliminating the area under the foreskin that can harbor and cultivate bacteria and inflammation significantly lowered the prospect of cancer-causing infection.

“These data are in line with an infectious/inflammatory pathway which may be involved in the risk of prostate cancer in some men,” Dr. Wright said. “Although observational only, these data suggest a biologically plausible mechanism through which circumcision may decrease the risk of prostate cancer.”

Hold up, don't do it just yet.

Hold up, don't do it just yet.

Dr. Wright added that, as with all studies like this, future research is necessary to confirm these initial results. So those of you with uncut cocks who've already explored the wonderful world of sexual intercourse, stop Googling doctors who perform adult circumcision.

These findings ONLY relate to men who've had their foreskins removed BEFORE they started doing the nasty, and there's no research (yet) focusing on men who've already been exposed to the various bacteria and microscopic creepy-crawlies encountered when inserting penises into other orifices and whether or not foreskins affect cancer risk.

So until that study's been done, just relax. Go masturbate or something.

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