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The link between the presence of [[human papillovirus]] (HPV) and genital cancer was established in the 1980s.<ref>zur Hausen H. Genital papillomavirus infections. ''Prog Med Virol'' 1985;32:15-21.</ref><ref>Kaufman RH, Adam E: Herpes simplex virus and human papilloma virus in the development of cervical carcinoma. ''Clin Obstet Gynecol'' 1986; 3: 678-692</ref><ref>McCance DJ, Kalache A., Ashdown K, et al. [http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/mccance/ Human papillomavirus types 16 and 18 in carcinomas of the penis from Brazil]. ''Int J Cancer'' 1986:37:55-59</ref><ref>Villa LL, Lopes A. Human papillomavirus DNA sequences in penile carcinomas in Brazil. ''Int J Cancer'' 1986;37(6):853-5.</ref><ref>McCance DJ. Human papillomaviruses and cancer. ''Biochem Biophys Acta'' 1986;823:195-206</ref><ref>Barrasso R, De Brux J, Croissant O, et al. High prevalence of papillomavirus-associated penile intraepithelial neoplasia in sexual partners of women with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. ''N Engl J Med'' 1987 Oct 8;317(15):916-23.</ref> Poland identified human papilloma virus (HPV) types 16 and 18 as the cause of penile and cervical cancers in 1990, and that they could be spread by sexual contact.<refname="poland1990">Poland RL. [http://www.cirp.org/library/general/poland/ The question of routine neonatal circumcision]. ''N Eng J Med'' 1990; 322:1312-5.</ref> At least one study suggests that circumcised men are at higher risk for HPV infection,<refname="cook1993">Cook LS, Koutsky LA, Holmes KK. [http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/STD/cook2/ Clinical presentation of genital warts among circumcised and uncircumcised heterosexual men attending an urban STD clinic]. ''Genitourin Med'' 1993;69:262-4</ref> making being circumcised a risk factor.

The myth that circumcision rendered males immune to penile cancer was invented in 1932 by a New York doctor named [[Abraham L. Wolbarst]], M.D.<ref>Wolbarst, AL. Circumcision and penile cancer. ''Lancet'' 1932; 150-3.</ref> Wolbarst wrote an article that was published in ''The Lancet'' in 1932, implicating human male [[smegma]] as carcinogenic.<ref>Wolbarst A. Circumcision and Penile Cancer. ''The Lancet'', vol. 1 no. 5655 (January 16, 1932): pp. 150-153.</ref> His hypothesis had absolutely no basis in valid scientific and epidemiological research.<ref>Fleiss PM, Hodges F. [http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/fleiss/ Neonatal circumcision does not protect against cancer]. ''BMJ'' 1996;312(7033):779-80.</ref> Wolbarst was directly responsible for proliferation of this myth, and all subsequent repetitons of it can be traced to his opinion article, although Wolbarst himself advocated universal neonatal circumcision principally as a preventive for epilepsy, paralysis, and [[masturbation]].<ref>Fleiss PM, Hodges F. [http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/fleiss/ Neonatal circumcision does not protect against cancer]. ''BMJ'' 1996;312(7033):779-80.</ref>

Wolbarst's opinion piece led to the perpetuation of the myth that penile cancer could not happen to males that were circumcised in infancy. This myth was completely disproven when Boczko ''et al''. (1979) reported the 9th documented case of penile cancer in a man who had been circumcised in infancy from the time of Wolbarst's opinion piece to the time of the report in 1968 (though they would maintain that "performing [circumcision] in infancy continues to be the most effective prophylactic measure against penile carcinoma").<refname="boczko1979">Boczko S, Freed S. [http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/boczko/ Penile carcinoma in circumcised males]. ''N Y State J Med'' 1979; 79(12):1903-4.</ref> Boczko ''et al''. (1979) wrote: ''"The diagnosis in our patient was made late, as in the other cases reported, perhaps because the disease was presumed not to occur in those circumcised in infancy. This is clearly not so. Although rare, the diagnosis must be considered when evaluating a penile lesion even in a circumcised individual."''

Advocates of circumcision may yet point to the aforementioned studies and highlight that the incidence of penile cancer was still lower in the circumcised groups of men studied, than it was in the intact group, and that thus "a lowered risk of penile cancer is observed in circumcised men." It is important to remember when looking at the studies performed in the 1950s, that the octogenarians afflicted with penile cancer were born in the 1870s, when the circumcision rate in the United States was close to zero; the majority of men in that generation who were afflicted with cancer would be intact. The increased number of cases of penile cancer found in more recent studies is reflective of the steadily increasing circumcision rates in this country (37% of Maden's cases were circumcised). Using Maden's numbers and properly adjusting his control population to match the case population for age, there was no difference in risk of developing penile cancer between men who were circumcised and those who were not. HPV (the cause of genital warts) has been found in most cases of penile cancer. Genital warts are now more common in circumcised men <refname="cook1994">Cook LS, Koutsky LA, Holmes KK. Circumcision and sexually transmitted diseases. ''Am J Public Health'' 1994; 84: 197-201. Cook LS. Koutsky LA. Holmes KK. Clinical presentation of genital warts among circumcised and uncircumcised heterosexual men attending an urban STD clinic. ''Genitourin Med'' 1993; 69: 262-264.</ref> <ref name="cook1993" /> and HPV lesions are equally common in circumcised and intact men.<ref>Aynaud O, Ionesco M; Barrasso R. Penile intraepithelial neoplasia. Specific clinical features correlate with histologic and virologic findings. Cancer 1994; 74: 1762-7.]</ref> As the number of circumcised men approaching the age at which penile cancer becomes evident (70s and 80s) it is quite likely that the vast majority of men developing penile cancer in the United States will be circumcised.

Reddy ''et al''. (1975) examined the frequency of carcinoma of the penis from 32 hospitals in India and found a wide variation in incidence that could not be explained by the intact status of the Hindus or the circumcision practices of the Muslims. <refname="reddy1975">Reddy CR, Raghavaiah NV, Mouli KC. Prevalence of carcinoma of the penis with special reference to India. ''Int Surg'' 1975, 60: 474-6.</ref> Finally, circumcision does not explain why Japan and Denmark have lower penile cancer rates than the United States when circumcision, especially infant circumcision, is not common in those two countries.<refname="kochen1980">Kochen M, McCurdy S. Circumcision and the risk of cancer of the penis. A life-table analysis. ''Am J Dis Child'' 1980; 134: 484-6. Swafford TD. Circumcision and the risk of cancer of the penis [letter] ''Am J Dis Child'' 1985; 139: 112.</ref>