Marital status, indicators of sexual activity and prostatic cancer.

Statutory notification of cancer in New Zealand provided an opportunity to investigate risk factors for prostate cancer in a large national population-based case-control study. We analyzed data obtained from telephone interviews with 923 cases and 1,224 controls. For inclusion in the study, all subjects had to have been married at some time. We found an increased risk of prostate cancer among those with a history of prostate cancer in first degree relatives (RR 2.6; 95% CI, 1.9-3.7) and an increased risk of prostate cancer with length of marriage among men married only once and still married at interview. For a consecutive subgroup of 550 cases and 819 controls, data on height and weight at age 20 and at 5 years before interview were collected. Men less than or equal to 1.7 m in height at age 20 years had a lower risk of prostate cancer than men taller at that age. There was no association between weight or body mass index and risk of prostate cancer. ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: prostate cancer; height; marriage; risk factors; casecontrol study Important epidemiological features of prostate cancer remain poorly understood. In particular, the rapidly increasing risk of prostate cancer with advancing age, trends in prostate cancer incidence and mortality, and ethnic differences with low rates in Asian populations and high rates in American blacks are not easily explained.1 Many risk factors for prostate cancer have been proposed but, apart from age and a strong family history of the disease, the associations are relatively weak. Although genetic effects on risk have been proposed, the 60-fold variation in prostate cancer incidence among countries is not likely to be wholly due to genetic determinants and strongly suggests the importance of environmental factors. 1The roles of obesity, height, weight, body mass index, and lean body mass have been assessed, and the results provide limited evidence of any effect on risk of prostate cancer.2 Any such alteration in risk may be restricted to more advanced, progressive or fatal disease. 3 The finding of a possible increased risk with increasing adult height has led to recent investigations of potential hormonal factors during puberty, and particularly the growth spurt during puberty, as risk factors for prostate cancer in later life. 4 An increased risk of prostate cancer from diets high in total energy, possibly from relatively high consumption of animal fat, has been suggested, but results have been inconsistent.2 Weak protective effects from the consumption of carotenoids, vitamins C and E, some vegetables and the level of vitamin D have been suggested, but there are major methodological difficulties in assessing dietary exposures. 5,6 A small randomized controlled trial of selenium supplementation for the prevention of skin cancer found a lower incidence of prostate cancer in those taking selenium, 7 but observational studies have not consistently found an increased risk of prostate cancer with low selenium intake. 8 Reduced physical activity has also been sug...

“…14 In contrast to the findings of a previous study, 13 we did not find the risk of prostate cancer to vary significantly with number of marriages.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

Risk factors for prostate cancer: A national case‐control study

Cox

Sneyd

Paul

et al. 2006

“…Thus, bladder cancer was related to tobacco 25 and occupational factors 26 ; RCC was related to tobacco 27 and urogenital diseases 20 ; and prostate cancer was related to socioeconomic status and sexual activity. 28 Since family history was self-reported, it is possible that cases and controls gave inaccurate information, and that cancer cases tended to recall cancers in the family better than controls. A review of studies evaluating the accuracy and completeness of reporting of family history in first degree relatives of cancer patients and controls found satisfactory results for family history of breast, colon and prostate cancers, and less so for endometrial and ovarian cancers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Family history of urogenital cancers in patients with bladder, renal cell and prostate cancers

Randi

Pelucchi

Negri

et al. 2007

Family history of urogenital cancers has been associated with an increased risk of cancer at the same sites. To evaluate the risks of bladder, prostate and renal cell neoplasms for family history of urogenital cancers in first-degree relatives, we analysed data from a case-control study conducted in northern Italy between 1985 and 1992 and including a total of 1,356 incident, histologically confirmed cancer cases: 727 bladder, 348 renal cell and 281 prostate cancer cases. Controls were 1,067 patients admitted to the same network of hospitals for acute, nonneoplastic conditions. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) of urogenital cancers, adjusting for age, sex, study centre, education, body mass index, smoking habit, alcohol consumption and number of brothers and, where appropriate, sisters. ORs of urogenital cancers for subjects with at least 1 first-degree relative with cancer at the same site were 6.1 [95% confidence interval (CI), 2.3-16.6] for bladder, 2.0 (95% CI: 0.6-6.2) for renal cell and 2.0 (95% CI: 0.9-4.1) for prostate cancer. ' 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.Key words: urogenital cancer; family history; case-control study As for most cancer sites, a family history of prostate, bladder or renal cell cancers (RCC) has been associated with an increased risk of cancer at the same site. 1-3The risk of bladder cancer is increased by about 50-100% in first degree relatives of bladder cancer cases, 4 and it appears higher for patients diagnosed before 60 years of age. 5,6 In the Swedish Family Cancer Database, a linkage study including 2,105 bladder cancer cases, the risk of bladder cancer was higher in siblings rather than in offspring of bladder cancer cases, 7 but other studies did not confirm this result. 1,5 Several case-control studies found that a family history of kidney cancer was a risk factor for RCC. 3,[8][9][10] In the nationwide Swedish Family Cancer Database, including 23,137 kidney cancer cases, the standardized incidence ratio was 1.6 for family history of the same cancer in offspring and 4.7 in siblings.11 Two other linkage studies also found increased risk for family history of kidney cancer.6,12 Inherited genetic factors were estimated to account for 7% of bladder and 8% of kidney cancers. 11A study on 44,788 pairs of twins conducted in Scandinavian countries estimated that heritable factors are more important in prostate than in any other cancer. 13 Familial history of prostate cancer has been associated with prostate cancer risk in 2 metaanalyses [odds ratios (ORs) 5 2.2 and 2.5], and risk appeared to be higher if the affected relative was a brother, rather than the father. 14,15 Further, some studies reported increased risk of bladder, kidney or prostate cancer in subjects with family history of a different urogenital tract cancer. 2,5,16,17 With the aim of estimating relative and attributable risks for familial history of cancers of the urogenital tract, we analysed data from a case-control study on bladder, renal cell and prostate cancers conducted in nort...

“…A previous Italian study did not find a clear association between the number of children and prostate cancer risk. 3 To investigate the relation between the number of children and prostate cancer risk, we have analyzed data from a casecontrol study conducted between 1991 and 2002 in 4 Italian areas, including greater Milan and the provinces of Pordenone and Gorizia in northern Italy, the province of Latina in central Italy and the urban area of Naples in southern Italy. 4 Briefly, this included 1,294 patients (median age, 66 years; range, 46-74) with incident, histologically confirmed carcinoma of the prostate, admitted to major teaching and general hospitals in the areas under study, and 1,451 controls (median age, 63 years; range, 46-74) selected among patients admitted to the same hospitals as cases for a wide spectrum of acute and nonneoplastic conditions.…”

Section: Dear Sirmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk of prostate cancer in men who are childless

Negri

Talamini

Bosetti

et al. 2005

Dear Sir,In an uniquely large population-based data set obtained from a nationwide record linkage and including 48,850 cases of prostate cancer diagnosed in Sweden between 1958 and 1998, Giwercman et al.1 found an odds ratio (OR) of 0.93 (95 CI 5 0.90-0.96) in men who fathered only 1 child and of 0.83 (95% CI 5 0.81-0.86) in childless men compared to men who fathered 2 or more children. No further change in risk was found with increasing number of children. Since prostate cancer has been associated to high androgen levels, the authors suggest that testicular failure, the main cause of male infertility, may be associated to long-term androgen deficiency and therefore to low prostate cancer risk. However, a meta-analysis of 18 epidemiologic studies of prostate cancer failed to find a similar association.2 The estimated overall ORs were 1.02 (95% CI 5 0.99-1.04), 1.03 (95% CI 5 0.99-1.09), 1.05 (95% CI 5 0.98-1.13) and 1.07 (95% CI 5 0.97-1.18), respectively, in men with 1, 2, 3 and 4 children compared to childless men. Results were, however, significantly heterogeneous: the OR for men with 2 children compared to childless men was 1.16 (95% CI 5 1.06-1.28) in hospital-based case-control studies (10 studies), 0.99 (95% CI 5 0.94-1.05) in population-based case-control studies (7 studies) and 1.01 (95% CI 5 0.84-1.21) in 1 cohort study. A previous Italian study did not find a clear association between the number of children and prostate cancer risk. 3To investigate the relation between the number of children and prostate cancer risk, we have analyzed data from a casecontrol study conducted between 1991 and 2002 in 4 Italian areas, including greater Milan and the provinces of Pordenone and Gorizia in northern Italy, the province of Latina in central Italy and the urban area of Naples in southern Italy. 4 Briefly, this included 1,294 patients (median age, 66 years; range, 46-74) with incident, histologically confirmed carcinoma of the prostate, admitted to major teaching and general hospitals in the areas under study, and 1,451 controls (median age, 63 years; range, 46-74) selected among patients admitted to the same hospitals as cases for a wide spectrum of acute and nonneoplastic conditions. Less than 5% of both cases and controls refused to participate. Twenty-one percent of the controls were admitted for traumas, 32% for other orthopedic disorders, 17% for acute surgical conditions and 29% for miscellaneous other illnesses, including eye, nose, ear, skin, or dental disorders. Cases and controls were interviewed during their hospital stay using a standard questionnaire, including information on sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric measures, lifestyle habits, a validated food-frequency section, personal medical history and family history of cancer in first-degree relatives. The sociodemographic section collected also information on marital status, age at marriage and number of children. Two cases and 2 controls had missing information on number of children and were eliminated from the analysis. ORs and the...