**7. Circumcision/carcinoma of the penis**

KuroviUa et al. in 1971 Stated that, Jews do not have cancers of the penis because they perform ritualistic circumcision upon their male children on the 8th day of life. Muslims also perform ritualistic circumcision. Compared with Hindus, who live in a similar environment but who do not circumcise, Muslims are relatively free from penile cancers while those who delay circumcision till boys are about 10 years of age; by that time, occult cancerous changes have become so well established beneath the prepuce that the disease can not be prevented. Study of men with cancers of the penis shows a high proportion with conditions of the prepuce that make its retraction difficult or impossible. Difficulty in retracting the prepuce especially in a man careless of hygiene is likely to result in accumulation and retention of the smegma, probably the exciting agent in the production of penile cancer. It is evident that the complete prophylaxis conferred by a well performed circumcision early in infancy is not produced by the circumcision of adults. When an infant is circumcised and the glans is no longer protected by the prepuce, a dense, thicker epidermis develops that-resists formation of cancer by chronic irritation. An association has been reported between cancer of the cervix and penis (Smith et al., 1980) . It has long been known that carcinoma of the cervix is rare in nuns and that the incidence of such cancer is low in populations in whom most males are circumcised (Blandy et al., 1968).
