Causes of Prostate Cancer

The exact cause of prostate cancer is unknown, but it is not assumed to be related to BPH or benign prostatic hyperplasia. Some of the risk factors for prostate cancer include genetics, advancing age, hormonal influences and environmental factors such as chemicals, toxins and industrial products.

Age

One is more likely to develop prostate cancer if he is over 40 years. Therefore, prostate cancer below the age of 40 is very rare and it most common in men over 80 years. Some studies have reported that about 50-80 per cent of men over the age of 80 develop prostate cancer.

Race

African-American men are about 1.6 times more likely than whites to develop prostate cancer and about 2.4 times more likely to die due to the disease than whites. This difference, however, may be well expressed with the help of differences in the arena of environmental exposure, lifestyle, diet, health-seeking behaviour etc more than the relationship between race and prostate cancer, which is negligible. These differences, however, have been decreasing with the 100% success of cancer treatments.

Genetics

Genetics plays an important role in the chances of a person developing prostate cancer. The risk of developing prostate cancer is more common in people, who have a family history of the disease. This risk is perhaps about two to three times more than the risk for men, who have no family history of prostate cancer.

Testosterone

The male hormone, testosterone, is responsible for stimulating the growth of normal prostate tissues as well as cells. Therefore, this hormone is thought to be involved in the growth and development of prostate cancer. Reducing the level of testosterone can help in decreasing the chances of developing prostate cancer.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Several studies on the risk factors of developing prostate cancer have shown that men, who have multiple partners are prone to sexually transmitted diseases that increase the likelihood of developing prostate cancer by 1.4 times than those who never had a history of sexually transmitted diseases.

Environmental Factors

Although, it has not been proven yet, it is believed that environmental factors such as diet with high saturated fats, cigarette smoking etc increase the risk of developing prostate cancer. It has also been suggested that obesity increases the chances of developing a more serious type of prostate cancer that may be difficult to treat. Substances in the environment or from industrial sources increase the risk of development of prostate cancer.

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