Infertile Men Risk High Chances Of Prostate Cancer

By Cara

Monday, March 22, 2010, 13:51

Infertility increases a man's risk of prostate cancer. A study showed that infertile men have an increased risk of developing high-grade prostate cancer, which is likely to spread much faster.

Infertility is an identifiable risk factor for prostate cancer. Research focusing on the number of children a man has, have pointed to a male's risk for prostate cancer.

Though some believe that number of children a man has, is a indicator of his fertility level, many others have refuted it. The number of children a man has may not accurately reflect his ability to cause pregnancy.

Thomas Walsh from University of Washington in Seattle and his colleagues have designed a more accurate study to evaluate the association between male infertility and prostate cancer.

They studied the risk of developing prostate cancer in a group of 22,562 men who were evaluated for infertility. The incidence of prostate cancer in these men was compared with the incidence in a sample of men in the general population who were of similar ages and from similar geographic locations.

It was found that 168 cases of prostate cancer developed among men who were evaluated for infertility. Men who were evaluated and found to be infertile were 2.6 times more likely to be diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer.

Infertile men being at a higher risk of the aggressive disease, are advised to be screened at regular intervals.