Too much sex 'may increase' prostate cancer risk

MEN who are very sexually active in their twenties and thirties are more likely to develop prostate cancer, according to research from the University of Nottingham.

However the UK research team also found that frequent sexual activity in a man's forties appears to have little effect and even small levels of activity in a man's fifties could offer protection from the disease.

The study, led by the University of Nottingham, looked at the sexual practices of more than 431 men who had been diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60.

Men who took part in the study were asked about all aspects of their sex life from their twenties onwards.

The group with prostate cancer had been more sexually active than the group who did not.

Almost 40% of the cancer group had had six female partners or more, compared with 31% of the control group.

Men with prostate cancer were found to be more likely to have had a sexually transmitted disease than those without prostate cancer.

"We were keen to look at the links between sexual activity and younger men as a lot of prostate cancer studies focus on older men as the disease is more prevalent in men over 50," said lead author Dr Polyxeni Dimitropoulou.

"Hormones appear to play a key role in prostate cancer and it is very common to treat men with therapy to reduce the hormones thought to stimulate the cancer cells.

"A man's sex drive is also regulated by his hormone levels, so this study examined the theory that having a high sex drive affects the risk of prostate cancer."

The study is published in the January issue of BJU International.