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