Link Found Between Number of Sexual Partners and Prostate Cancer Risk

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

A new study from researchers at the University of Montreal's School of Public Health in Montreal, Ontario, Canada, has determined that there is a link between a man’s number of female sexual partners and his risk of getting prostate cancer.

Specifically, the study claims that sleeping with more than 20 women within a lifetime may significantly reduce one’s risk of having prostate cancer. Adversely, the research indicates that having more than 20 male sexual partners may increase one’s risk for developing prostate cancer.

The researchers were part of the Prostate Cancer & Environment Study (PROtEuS), which analyzed 3,208 men. Out of all of the men who were included in the study, 1,590 were diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2005 and 2009. According to the research team, men who had at least 20 female sexual partners were 28% less likely to develop prostate cancer and at a 19% lower risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer compared with men who had fewer than 20 female sexual partners.

Furthermore, men who reported never having a sexual partner were two times as likely to develop prostate cancer compared with those who did have a sexual partner within their lifetime. Researchers admitted that they were surprised by these findings and speculate that higher exports to sexually transmitted infections may be a factor that plays into their findings, but they were not able to fully justify the reasoning behind their research. Further analysis is needed to determine more in regards to these findings.