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Sexual behaviour, STDs and risks for prostate cancer
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  • Regular Article
  • Open access
  • Published: 07 January 2000

Sexual behaviour, STDs and risks for prostate cancer

  • R B Hayes1,
  • L M Pottern2,
  • H Strickler1,
  • C Rabkin1,
  • V Pope3,
  • G M Swanson4 nAff7,
  • R S Greenberg5 nAff8,
  • J B Schoenberg6,
  • J Liff5,
  • A G Schwartz4 nAff9,
  • R N Hoover1 &
  • …
  • J F Fraumeni Jr1 

British Journal of Cancer volume 82, pages 718–725 (2000)Cite this article

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Abstract

A population-based case-control study was carried out among 981 men (479 black, 502 white) with pathologically confirmed prostate cancer and 1315 controls (594 black, 721 white). In-person interviews elicited information on sexual behaviour and other potential risk factors for prostate cancer. Blood was drawn for serologic studies in a subset of the cases (n = 276) and controls (n = 295). Prostate cancer risk was increased among men who reported a history of gonorrhoea or syphilis (odds ratio (OR) = 1.6; 95% confidence internal (CI) 1.2–2.1) or showed serological evidence of syphilis (MHA-TP) (OR = 1.8; 95% CI 1.0–3.5). Patterns of risk for gonorrhoea and syphilis were similar for blacks (OR = 1.7; 95% CI 1.2–2.2) and whites (OR = 1.6; 95% CI 0.8–3.2). Risks increased with increasing occurrences of gonorrhoea, rising to OR = 3.3 (95% CI 1.4–7.8) among subjects with three or more events (P trend= 0.0005). Frequent sexual encounters with prostitutes and failure to use condoms were also associated with increased risk. Syphilis, gonorrhoea, sex with prostitutes and unprotected sexual intercourse may be indicators of contact with a sexually transmissible factor that increases the risk of prostate cancer. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

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  • 16 November 2011

    This paper was modified 12 months after initial publication to switch to Creative Commons licence terms, as noted at publication

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Author information

Author notes

  1. G M Swanson

    Present address: College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

  2. R S Greenberg

    Present address: Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC, USA

  3. A G Schwartz

    Present address: MCP-Hahnemann School of Medicine, Allegheny University of the Health Sciences, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, EPN 418, Bethesda, 20892, MD, USA

    R B Hayes, H Strickler, C Rabkin, R N Hoover & J F Fraumeni Jr

  2. Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

    L M Pottern

  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA

    V Pope

  4. Michigan Cancer Foundation, Detroit, MI, USA

    G M Swanson & A G Schwartz

  5. Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    R S Greenberg & J Liff

  6. New Jersey State Department of Health, Formerly with the Special Epidemiology Program, Trenton, NJ, USA

    J B Schoenberg

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From twelve months after its original publication, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

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Hayes, R., Pottern, L., Strickler, H. et al. Sexual behaviour, STDs and risks for prostate cancer. Br J Cancer 82, 718–725 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.1999.0986

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  • Received: 08 December 1998

  • Revised: 13 April 1999

  • Accepted: 28 April 1999

  • Published: 07 January 2000

  • Issue date: 01 February 2000

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.1999.0986

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Keywords

  • epidemiology
  • prostatic neoplasms
  • racial aspects
  • sexual behaviour

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