Prostate cancer

Risk factors for prostate cancer

We've listed here the things that may increase your risk of getting prostate cancer.

Source:
American Cancer Society.
Cancer facts and figures 2008.
Available at http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/2008CAFFfinalsecured.pdf (accessed on 1 December 2009).

Source:
Nelson WG, DeMarzo AM, Isaacs WB.
Prostate cancer.
New England Journal of Medicine. 2003; 349: 366-381.

Source:
Wilt TJ, Partin MR.
Early detection and treatment of prostate cancer.
Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management. 2000; 7: 55-66.

Source:
Gallagher RP, Fleshner N.
Prostate cancer: individual risk factors.
Canadian Medical Association Journal. 1998; 159: 807-813.

⁴

Source:
Chan JM, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci EL.
What causes prostate cancer? A brief summary of the epidemiology.
Seminars in Cancer Biology. 1998; 8: 263-273.

⁵

Source:
National Cancer Institute.
What you need to know about prostate cancer.
November 2008. Available at http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/wyntk/prostate (accessed on 1 December 2009).

⁶

Source:
Ekman P.
Genetic and environmental factors in prostate cancer genesis: identifying high-risk cohorts.
European Urology. 1999; 35: 362-369.

⁷ We've also talked about things some people worry may cause prostate cancer, but don't.

Keep in mind that having a risk factor for prostate cancer does not mean you will automatically get the disease. It just means you have an increased chance compared with someone who doesn't have the risk factor. You may be alarmed to read that something doubles your risk, but if your risk is low to start with, then doubling it doesn't make much difference.

Things that definitely increase your risk of prostate cancer

Being older

This is the strongest risk factor. About 70 percent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer are 65 or older.

Being black

The risk of black American men getting prostate cancer is far higher than that of white American men. They are also twice as likely as white men to die of their disease. This may be due to differences in diet and genetic makeup.

Having a family history of prostate cancer

If your father or brother has had prostate cancer, you are twice as likely to get the disease. The risk is even higher if this relative developed the disease at a young age and if you have more than one relative with prostate cancer.

Men whose mothers have breast cancer may be at higher risk of prostate cancer, but researchers are not yet certain about this.

Having a gene called HPC1

Researchers have found a gene called HPC1 that may be linked to prostate cancer. A gene is the material found in all cells that tells them how to grow and behave. Men who inherit an abnormal HPC1 gene have an increased chance of getting the disease. How much this increases your risk is not yet known.

One study of 95 families with a history of the disease found that 30 percent of the family members with prostate cancer had inherited an abnormal HPC1 gene.

Things that may increase your risk of prostate cancer

Eating a lot of fat

Eating food with a high level of fat may increase the risk of getting the disease. It may also increase the chances that the disease will spread in men who already have it. Researchers think fat tissues might increase the male hormone, testosterone.This hormone helps some prostate cancer cells grow.

Source:
Ma RW, Chapman K.
A systematic review of the effect of diet in prostate cancer prevention and treatment
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 2009, 22: 187-199.

⁸

Eating a lot of red meat

Some studies have suggested there is a link between eating red meat and the risk of prostate cancer. Researchers don't know why this might be.One theory is that cooking red meat at high temperatures could make substances that trigger cancer.

Source:
Ma RW, Chapman K.
A systematic review of the effect of diet in prostate cancer prevention and treatment
Journal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 2009, 22: 187-199.

⁸

Things that may lower your risk of prostate cancer

Taking vitamin E supplements

Vitamin E may have anti-cancer properties and may lower your risk. In a large study of male smokers, those who took 50 milligrams of vitamin E daily were less likely to get and die from prostate cancer than those who didn't take the supplement.But two large studies of 35,000 and 14,000 men found that taking vitamin E was no better than taking a placebo (pretend treatment) Both studies were

randomized controlled trials
Randomized controlled trials are medical studies designed to test whether a treatment works. Patients are split into groups. One group is given the treatment being tested (for example, an antidepressant drug) while another group (called the comparison or control group) is given an alternative treatment. This could be a different type of drug or a dummy treatment (a placebo). Researchers then compare the effects of the different treatments.

randomized controlled trials, which is one of the best types of evidence.

Source:
Lippman SM, Klein EA, Goodman PJ, et al.
Effect of selenium and vitamin E on risk of prostate cancer and other cancers: the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT).
Journal of the American Medical Association. 2009; 301(1): 39-51.

⁹

Source:
Gaziano JM, Glynn RJ, Christen WG, et al.
Vitamins E and C in the prevention of prostate and total cancer in men: the Physicians' Health Study II randomized controlled trial.
Journal of the American Medical Association. 2009; 301(1): 52-62.

¹⁰

Taking selenium supplements

Selenium is an antioxidant, which means it may protect the body's tissues from damage and lower your risk of prostate cancer. But we don't know for sure. Some laboratory-based studies, and comparisons of people in different countries with different rates of prostate cancer have suggested that selenium might prevent prostate cancer.

But good evidence from a large randomized controlled trial suggests it is no better than a

placebo
A placebo is a 'pretend' or dummy treatment that contains no active substances. A placebo is often given to half the people taking part in medical research trials, for comparison with the 'real' treatment. It is made to look and taste identical to the drug treatment being tested, so that people in the studies do not know if they are getting the placebo or the 'real' treatment. Researchers often talk about the 'placebo effect'. This is where patients feel better after having a placebo treatment because they expect to feel better. Tests may indicate that they actually are better. In the same way, people can also get side effects after having a placebo treatment. Drug treatments can also have a 'placebo effect'. This is why, to get a true picture of how well a drug works, it is important to compare it against a placebo treatment.

placebo (pretend treatment). There were similar rates of prostate cancer in men took selenium supplements on their own, men who took them with vitamin E, and in men who took a pretend treatment (placebo).

⁹

Eating tomatoes and soy

Some studies on large groups of people have found an association between those who eat plenty of tomatoes and soy and a lower risk of prostate cancer. Tomatoes contain a plant chemical called lycopene, and soy contains substances called isoflavones. Both may help protect against cancer.

But other research suggests that lycopene has no effect on preventing prostate cancer. One large trial measured blood levels of lycopene in an initially healthy group of men. It found that, years later, there was no difference in lycopene levels between those most likely and those least likely to develop prostate cancer.

Source:
Peters U, Leitzmann MF, Chatterjee N, et al.
Serum lycopene, other carotenoids, and prostate cancer risk: a nested case-control study in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial.
Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 2007; 16(5): 962-968.

¹¹

Things that don't affect your risk of prostate cancer

Having other prostate problems

Having other prostate problems doesn't increase your risk of prostate cancer. As men get older, the normal cells that make up their prostate start to multiply and the prostate gets bigger. It's a normal process that doctors call benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). BPH is not related to cancer.

Having a vasectomy

Studies show that a vasectomy (an operation that makes you infertile) does not affect your chance of getting prostate cancer. Doctors had thought that vasectomy might increase the risk of prostate cancer because men who have the operation have higher levels of testosterone (this hormone helps some cancer cells to grow).

Having an active sex life

Your risk of getting prostate cancer doesn't seem to be affected by how often you have sex, or the number of partners. Doctors thought more sex might increase your risk because more sexually active men may have more testosterone (this hormone helps some cancer cells to grow).

Sources for the information on this page:

American Cancer Society.Cancer facts and figures 2008.Available at http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/2008CAFFfinalsecured.pdf (accessed on 1 December 2009).

Nelson WG, DeMarzo AM, Isaacs WB.Prostate cancer.New England Journal of Medicine. 2003; 349: 366-381.

Wilt TJ, Partin MR.Early detection and treatment of prostate cancer.Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management. 2000; 7: 55-66.

Gallagher RP, Fleshner N.Prostate cancer: individual risk factors.Canadian Medical Association Journal. 1998; 159: 807-813.

Chan JM, Stampfer MJ, Giovannucci EL.What causes prostate cancer? A brief summary of the epidemiology.Seminars in Cancer Biology. 1998; 8: 263-273.

National Cancer Institute.What you need to know about prostate cancer.November 2008. Available at http://www.cancer.gov/cancerinfo/wyntk/prostate (accessed on 1 December 2009).

Ekman P.Genetic and environmental factors in prostate cancer genesis: identifying high-risk cohorts.European Urology. 1999; 35: 362-369.

Ma RW, Chapman K.A systematic review of the effect of diet in prostate cancer prevention and treatmentJournal of Human Nutrition and Dietetics. 2009, 22: 187-199.

Lippman SM, Klein EA, Goodman PJ, et al.Effect of selenium and vitamin E on risk of prostate cancer and other cancers: the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial (SELECT).Journal of the American Medical Association. 2009; 301(1): 39-51.

Gaziano JM, Glynn RJ, Christen WG, et al.Vitamins E and C in the prevention of prostate and total cancer in men: the Physicians' Health Study II randomized controlled trial.Journal of the American Medical Association. 2009; 301(1): 52-62.

Peters U, Leitzmann MF, Chatterjee N, et al.Serum lycopene, other carotenoids, and prostate cancer risk: a nested case-control study in the prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer screening trial.Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 2007; 16(5): 962-968.

This information was last updated on Dec 08, 2009

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