Smoking and prostate cancer

Smoking is an important risk factor for many cancers, yet the relationship between smoking and prostate cancer remains uncertain. A recent study investigated whether smoking affected the risk of prostate cancers within a large prospective cohort study of dietary and environmental cancer risk factors among men ages 50 to 71 upon enrollment in 1995-1996 (n = 283,312).

There was no apparent association between smoking and advanced prostate cancer. A number of biologically plausible mechanisms could explain these results, including the direct effects of carcinogens in tobacco smoke and the resulting changes in sex hormone or growth factor profiles. These findings suggest that current and former smokers may be at decreased risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer and current smokers are at an increased risk of dying from prostate cancer.