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Prostate Cancer Linked To STDs
By SUSAN BRINKMANN, For The Bulletin
A new study has found that men with prostate cancer who were previously infected by a common sexually transmitted disease (STD) were more likely to develop an aggressive form of cancer than those who were never infected.
The study, conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that trichomonas vaginalis, a parasitic germ and common STD, can infect the prostate and may cause inflammation that spurs growth of prostate cancer later in life.
“Our underlying hypothesis is around inflammation and, in particular, we believe that inflammation from a variety of sources is leading to prostate cancer progression,” says Lorelei Mucci, Ph.D, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and senior author of the study.
Dr. Mucci and her colleagues compared 673 prostate cancer patients to 673 men without prostate cancer by testing their blood for signs of past infection by trichomonas – a one-celled parasite. They found that roughly one in five men had been infected with trichomonas at some point in their life. However, men infected by the virus were no more likely than STD-free men to develop prostate cancer in general.
However, those men with a past history of trichomonas infection were two to three times more likely to develop an aggressive and potentially life-threatening form of prostate cancer.
Because the CDC estimates that there are 7.4 million new cases of tichomoniasis reported every year, these findings could be significant if a definite link is substantiated. If so, it would not be the first time an STD has been blamed for causing cancer. Certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) are known to cause cervical cancer in women.
Scientists have been studying a possible link between STDs and prostate cancer for several years. In 2002, Drs. Leslie K. Dennis and Deborah V. Dawson from the University of Iowa in Iowa City analyzed 36 studies that evaluated the link between men’s sexual activity and prostate cancer. They found that a history of any STD increased a man's risk of developing prostate cancer anywhere from 1.4 to 2.3-times.
The level of risk was also found to increase along with the number of sexual partners a man has.
Epidemiologist Elizabeth A. Platz, Sc.D. of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is considered a pioneer in this research and has been studying the link between trichomonas and prostate cancer. In one recent study, they found 11 percent of the men to have antibodies against trichomonas and those men were 40 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than those who had never been infected with trichomonas.
However, further studies by Platz found that men with trichomonas antibodies who did not regularly use aspirin – a common anti-inflammatory – were twice as likely to develop prostate cancer than those who did, suggesting that inflammation played a role in the cancer’s development.
This is the same conclusion Dr. Mucci is reaching.
“Although there is some evidence that suggests that the number of partners that a man has had over his lifetime is associated with increased risk of developing prostrate cancer,” Mucci said, “researchers suspect that STDs may be just one inflammation-causing factor that contributes to the cancer or makes it grow faster.”
“We think that inflammation is what’s important,” she says. “This inflammation may result from trichomonas, a dietary factor, or it could result from oxidative stress from something like smoking or other factors.”
Determining whether prostrate cancer is caused, or aided, by an infectious disease will be critical in providing appropriate treatment and recommending proper preventive measures.
Susan Brinkmann can be reached at fiat723@aol.com
The study, conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, found that trichomonas vaginalis, a parasitic germ and common STD, can infect the prostate and may cause inflammation that spurs growth of prostate cancer later in life.
“Our underlying hypothesis is around inflammation and, in particular, we believe that inflammation from a variety of sources is leading to prostate cancer progression,” says Lorelei Mucci, Ph.D, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health and senior author of the study.
Dr. Mucci and her colleagues compared 673 prostate cancer patients to 673 men without prostate cancer by testing their blood for signs of past infection by trichomonas – a one-celled parasite. They found that roughly one in five men had been infected with trichomonas at some point in their life. However, men infected by the virus were no more likely than STD-free men to develop prostate cancer in general.
However, those men with a past history of trichomonas infection were two to three times more likely to develop an aggressive and potentially life-threatening form of prostate cancer.
Because the CDC estimates that there are 7.4 million new cases of tichomoniasis reported every year, these findings could be significant if a definite link is substantiated. If so, it would not be the first time an STD has been blamed for causing cancer. Certain strains of the human papillomavirus (HPV) are known to cause cervical cancer in women.
Scientists have been studying a possible link between STDs and prostate cancer for several years. In 2002, Drs. Leslie K. Dennis and Deborah V. Dawson from the University of Iowa in Iowa City analyzed 36 studies that evaluated the link between men’s sexual activity and prostate cancer. They found that a history of any STD increased a man's risk of developing prostate cancer anywhere from 1.4 to 2.3-times.
The level of risk was also found to increase along with the number of sexual partners a man has.
Epidemiologist Elizabeth A. Platz, Sc.D. of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is considered a pioneer in this research and has been studying the link between trichomonas and prostate cancer. In one recent study, they found 11 percent of the men to have antibodies against trichomonas and those men were 40 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer than those who had never been infected with trichomonas.
However, further studies by Platz found that men with trichomonas antibodies who did not regularly use aspirin – a common anti-inflammatory – were twice as likely to develop prostate cancer than those who did, suggesting that inflammation played a role in the cancer’s development.
This is the same conclusion Dr. Mucci is reaching.
“Although there is some evidence that suggests that the number of partners that a man has had over his lifetime is associated with increased risk of developing prostrate cancer,” Mucci said, “researchers suspect that STDs may be just one inflammation-causing factor that contributes to the cancer or makes it grow faster.”
“We think that inflammation is what’s important,” she says. “This inflammation may result from trichomonas, a dietary factor, or it could result from oxidative stress from something like smoking or other factors.”
Determining whether prostrate cancer is caused, or aided, by an infectious disease will be critical in providing appropriate treatment and recommending proper preventive measures.
Susan Brinkmann can be reached at fiat723@aol.com
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