Smokers face greater risk of prostate cancer death

Men with prostate cancer who smoke increase significantly their chances of dying of the disease, a study has found.

Researchers also linked smoking at the time of diagnosis and aggressive tumours.

Study leader Dr Stacey Kenfield, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, US, said: "We found similar results for both prostate cancer recurrence and prostate cancer mortality. The data taken together provides further support that smoking may increase risk of prostate cancer progression."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, is the largest investigation to date looking at the effects of smoking on prostate cancer.

More than 5,300 men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 1986 and 2006 took part in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Men with prostate cancer who were current smokers had a 61 per cent increased risk of dying from the disease compared with non-smokers. They had a similarly increased risk of recurring cancer.

Smoking was associated with more aggressive disease at diagnosis. Among those diagnosed with cancer which had not yet spread, smokers had an 80 per cent increased risk of dying.

But the study also found that prostate cancer death rates for former smokers matched those of non-smokers after they had quit for ten or more years.

The same was true for men who had quit for less than ten years, but were previously only moderate smokers.

"The data is exciting because there are few known ways for a man to reduce his risk of dying from prostate cancer," said Professor Edward Giovannucci, of the Harvard team.

"For smokers, quitting can impact their risk of dying from prostate cancer."

Related topics: