Circumcision and risk of genital warts

Human papillomavirus (HPV) causes genital warts and some subtypes of this virus can cause cancer. Recent research has shown that circumcision and regular use of condoms can reduce the risk of HPV infection.Although HPV is the main cause of cervical and anal cancer, few studies have looked at risk factors for penile HPV infection in men. Researchers from the VA Sepulveda Ambulatory Care Center in California, USA, studied 393 men who attended an STD clinic. The team gave the men questionnaires and tested swabs of the penis for HPV DNA, to see if they were infected. It was found that that the likelihood of detecting HPV was over three times higher for men who engaged in sexual intercourse more than 30 times per month compared with those who had intercourse no more than 5 times per month. Also, circumcision and regular condom use seemed to protect against penile HPV infection. Circumcised men were one-third as likely as uncircumcised men to be infected, while always using a condom halved the risk compared with never using a condom. The increasing rate of HPV-related cancers attests to the importance of understanding HPV not only in women, but also in men, who serve as vectors of this virus and potentially as reservoirs.