Carcinoma of the penis historical perspective

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Swathi Venkatesan, M.B.B.S.[2] Sogand Goudarzi, MD [3]

Overview

History of Circumcision

The earliest reference to the circumcision procedure dates back to around 2400 B.C, in Egypt ^[1]
In the late 1800s, doctors turned to circumcision to “cure” an array of ailments, from childhood fevers to brass poisoning to paralysis
Lewis Sayre, a professor of orthopedic surgery at Bellevue Hospital Medical College,was called to the bedside of a 5-year-old boy whose knees were flexed and paralyzed, preventing him from walking
During his examination, Sayre discovered that the boy’s foreskin had contracted, causing the child great pain
Speculating that the foreskin problem could be the source of the boy’s “physical prostration and nervous exhaustion,” Sayre conducted a circumcision the next day
In less than two weeks, Sayre reported, the boy was walking again
South Koreans started to circumcise children during the American trusteeship following World War II ^[2]
The American cultural practice of circumcision became nearly universal in South Korea after the Korean War of 1950-52

History of HPV relation to Carcinoma of Penis

In 1965, the first published HPV study characterized its DNA ^[3]
Prior to 1965, papillomavirus studies focused on rabbit papillomavirus and its association to cancer
During the 1970’s, more than one type of HPV was recognized
In 1982, several studies associating HPV type 6 with genital warts, but neither cervical nor penile cancer, were published
The theory that penile and cervical cancer may have a common etiology was proposed as early as 35 years ago
Initial studies supported a causal relationship between male sexual behaviors and the incidence of cervical carcinoma before the role of HPV was even recognized