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Doctor breaking cigarette. Europa press.
Smokers have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer , but a higher risk of dying due to the disease, according to a large population study led by the University of Lund (Sweden).
In their work, published in the scientific journal ‘European Urology.’, the researchers followed more than 350,000 people for several decades to get these results.
It is It has been shown that smokers have an increased risk of developing various types of cancer., but there have been relatively few studies that have investigated prostate cancer specifically and included clinical information on prostate cancer. Therefore, this study may contribute to a more complete picture of the association between smoking and the risk of disease and death from prostate cancer.
The researchers used Five Swedish population-based studies with self-reported information on men’s smoking. In all, more than 350,000 men starting in 1974 were included in the study. They were then followed over the years using various national registries.
The Swedish National Prostate Cancer Registry contributed data on the type of tumor at the time of diagnosis, the cause of the detection, through the symptoms or through a PSA test without yes. proximal symptoms (asymptomatic PSA test), and treatment. During the period covered by the research, 24,731 of the participants developed prostate cancer and 4,322 died from the disease.
Among other things, the researchers found that, during the period of time that PSA tests have been available as part of routine health care physicals, smokers have generally had a lower risk of developing heart disease. prostate cancer. This is true only for localized prostate cancer, which is the form most often detected by an asymptomatic PSA test.
“A likely explanation for the lower risk of prostate cancer in smokers is that they may be less likely to have an asymptomatic PSA test. On the other hand, smokers have a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer, something we see regardless of tumor stage at diagnosis, so this refers to all forms of prostate cancer. prostate cancer, from low-risk to metastatic,” says Sylvia Jochems, MD, first author of the study.
The risk was 20 percent higher among smokers than among men. men who had never smoked. The risk was further increased if the smokers were also overweight (BMI 25-30) or obese (BMI greater than 30). ). Researchers say it is now important to identify why smokers have a worse prognosis once they have developed prostate cancer.
” We need to know more about whether it is smoking or other risk factors, such as sociodemographic ones, that cause this association. Another important question is whether prognosis could be improved by stopping smoking after prostate cancer diagnosis,” concludes Tanja Stocks, associate professor at Lund University and last author of the study. study.