The risk of prostate cancer is higher for men who have higher levels of 'free' testosterone and a growth hormone in their blood.Previous research has found age, ethnicity and family history are also contributing factors that can raise the risk of the disease in men.The new study is the first to find two major factors of the health condition that can be changed in order to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
Dr Ruth Travis, an Associate Professor and Ellie Watts, a Research Fellow, both based at the Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, UK took the lead on this investigation. "Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men worldwide after lung cancer and a leading cause of cancer death. But there is no evidence-based advice that we can give to men to reduce their risk," Dr Travis told a news portal. Adding,"We were interested in studying the levels of two hormones circulating in the blood because previous research suggests they could be linked with prostate cancer and because these are factors that could potentially be altered in an attempt to reduce prostate cancer risk."
Researchers examined data on 200,452 men who were part of theUK Biobank project for the study. None of the men in the group had cancer at the start of the study and they were not being treated with hormone therapy. Researchers took blood samples from all the men in the group so they could measure their testosterone levels and a growth hormone called insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I). The team monitored participants in the group for almost seven years. A follow-up revealed5,412 men from the group developed prostate cancer and 296 men died due to the disease.
The results showed men with higher concentrations of the two hormones had a higher chance of developing prostate cancer.The risk of the disease increased by 9 per cent with every increase of five nanomoles in the concentration of IGF-I per litre of blood (5 nmol/L). Risk of the disease rose to 10 per cent with every increase of 50 picomoles of 'free' testosterone per litre of blood (50 pmol/L).
"This type of study can't tell us why these factors are linked, but we know that testosterone plays a role in the normal growth and function of the prostate and that IGF-I has a role in stimulating the growth of cells in our bodies," Dr Travis told a news portal. Adding, "What this research does tell us is that these two hormones could be a mechanism that links things like diet, lifestyle and body size with the risk of prostate cancer. This takes us a step closer to strategies for preventing the disease."
The team want to better understand this link in the hopes of developing better treatment options. "These results are important because they show that there are at least some factors that influence prostate cancer risk that can potentially be altered. In the longer term, it could mean that we can give men better advice on how to take steps to reduce their own risk," Professor Hashim Ahmed, chair of NCRI's prostate group and Professor of Urology at Imperial College London. Adding, "This study also shows the importance of carrying out very large studies, which are only possible thanks to the thousands of men who agreed to take part."
The study's findings were presented at the 2019 NCRI Cancer Conference.
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