Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21695385›Full record

SynthesisCancer causes & control : CCC2011

Male circumcision and penile cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Natasha L Larke, Sara L Thomas, Isabel dos Santos Silva, Helen A Weiss

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Cancer causes & control : CCC, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
81citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
10.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

81 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 198 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Impact of Sexual Activity on the Risk of Male Genital Tumors: A Systematic Review of the Literature.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Adult male circumcision with a circular stapler versus conventional circumcision: A prospective randomized clinical trial.Brazilian journal of medical and biological research = Revista brasileira de pesquisas medicas e biologica · 2015
    Trial
  4. Trial
  5. Review
  6. Article
  7. [Current diagnostics and treatment of penile cancer].Urologie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026
    Review
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21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Natasha L LarkeMRC Tropical Epidemiology Group, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E 7HT, UK. Natasha.larke@lshtm.ac.uk
Sara L Thomas
Isabel dos Santos Silva
Helen A Weiss
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine · GBUniversity of London · GB

Funding

Medical Research Council G0700837
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveWe systematically reviewed the evidence of an association between male circumcision and penile cancer.

methodsDatabases were searched using keywords and text terms for the epidemiology of penile cancer. Random effects meta-analyses were used to calculate summary odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

resultsWe identified eight papers which evaluated the association of circumcision with penile cancer, of which seven were case-control studies. There was a strong protective effect of childhood/adolescent circumcision on invasive penile cancer (OR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.13-0.83; 3 studies). In two studies, the protective effect of childhood/adolescent circumcision on invasive cancer no longer persisted when analyses were restricted to boys with no history of phimosis. In contrast, there was some evidence that circumcision in adulthood was associated with an increased risk of invasive penile cancer (summary OR = 2.71; 95% CI 0.93-7.94; 3 studies). There was little evidence for an association of penile intra-epithelial neoplasia and in situ penile cancer with circumcision performed at any age.

conclusionsMen circumcised in childhood/adolescence are at substantially reduced risk of invasive penile cancer, and this effect could be mediated partly through an effect on phimosis. Expansion of circumcision services in sub-Saharan Africa as an HIV prevention strategy may additionally reduce penile cancer risk.

Indexed as

Case-Control StudiesCircumcision, MaleHumansMalePenile NeoplasmsRisk Factors

Identifiers

PMID21695385
PMCPMC3139859
OpenAlexW2071903353

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.