Abstract
711 women were identified who in 1939 were married to men who died with cancer of the penis in England and Wales during the period 1964 to 1973. The records of women were traced through the National Health Service Central Register and, by January 1975, 378 (53%) were found to have died. Expected numbers of deaths from all causes, all cancers and from some specific cancers were calculated assuming the women to have the same mortality rates as the general population of England and Wales. The total number of deaths (378) was close to the number expected (366-8) but there was a slight excess of deaths from cancer (89 against 76.5 expected). Of the individual sites examined only cancer of the cervix showed a statistically significant excess (11 deaths against 3.9 expected, P = 0.002). This finding is similar to those reported in two other studies of the wives of men with cancer of the penis. On the basis of these studies it is suggested that some cases of cancer of the cervix and cancer of the penis may have a common aetiology. Other epidemiological characteristics of the two diseases do not show a marked similarity.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- DODGE O. G., LINSELL C. A. CARCINOMA OF THE PENIS IN UGANDA AND KENYA AFRICANS. Cancer. 1963 Oct;16:1255–1263. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196310)16:10<1255::aid-cncr2820161005>3.0.co;2-p. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Dodge O. G., Owor R., Templeton A. C. Tumours of the male genitalia. Recent Results Cancer Res. 1973;41:132–144. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-80725-1_7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Kessler I. I. Perspectives on the epidemiology of cervical cancer with special reference to the herpesvirus hypothesis. Cancer Res. 1974 May;34(5):1091–1110. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Krain L. S. Some epidemiologic variables in prostatic carcinoma in California. Prev Med. 1974 Mar;3(1):154–159. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(74)90070-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Martínez I. Relationship of squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix uteri to squamous cell carcinoma of the penis among Puerto rican women married to men with penile carcinoma. Cancer. 1969 Oct;24(4):777–780. doi: 10.1002/1097-0142(196910)24:4<777::aid-cncr2820240418>3.0.co;2-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Reddy C. R., Rao T. G., Venkatarathnam G., Kameswari V. R., Sashiprabha R., Raghavaiah N. V. A study of 80 patients with penile carcinoma combined with cervical biopsy study of their wives. Int Surg. 1977 Oct;62(10):549–553. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rotkin I. D. A comparison review of key epidemiological studies in cervical cancer related to current searches for transmissible agents. Cancer Res. 1973 Jun;33(6):1353–1367. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]