Sex drive link to prostate cancer

Men who are more sexually active in their 20s and 30s may run a higher risk of prostate cancer, research suggests.

The Nottingham University study quizzed 800 men on how often they had sex or masturbated.

Those who were most active while younger had more chance of developing cancer later in life.

The researchers said higher levels of sex hormones could lead to a bigger sex drive and the cancer, the journal BJU International reported.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with well over 30,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

It affects the prostate gland, which is found close to the bladder and makes a component of semen.

The Nottingham team, led by Dr Polyxeni Dimitropoulou, recruited more than 400 men diagnosed with prostate cancer, then compared their answers to 409 men thought to be free of the disease.

As well as questions about how often they had been sexually active from puberty onwards, they were asked how many sexual partners they had had and whether they had been diagnosed with any sexual infections.

Roughly the same proportion of both groups, 59%, said they had engaged in sexual activity 12 times a month or more in their 20s, falling to 48% in their 30s, 28% in their 40s and 13% in their 50s.

Almost two-fifths of the prostate cancer group had had six female partners or more, compared with less than a third of the non-cancer group.

Read More