Background: Smegma is widely believed to cause penile, cervical and prostate cancer. This nearly ubiquitous myth continues to permeate the medical literature despite a lack of valid supportive evidence.
Methods: A historical perspective of medical ideas pertaining to smegma is provided, and the original studies in both animals and humans are reanalysed using the appropriate statistical methods.
Results: Evidence supporting the role of smegma as a carcinogen is found wanting.
Conclusions: Assertions that smegma is carcinogenic cannot be justified on scientific grounds.
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| http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-3083.2006.01653.x | DOI Listing |
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