The research presented at the 2019 NCRI Cancer Conference confirms that the high level of hormones in the blood increases prostate cancer risk.
Also, the research stated that other factors such as older age, ethnicity and family history of the diseases are already known as a strong reason to increase a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer.
The research on more than 2,00,000 men is one of the first to present strong evidence about the factors that could be modified to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
What is Prostate Cancer?
Let’s first understand what prostate cancer is; it is a type of cancer which occurs in the prostate-a small walnut-shaped gland in men that produces the seminal fluid which helps nourishing and transporting sperms.
Apart from lung cancer, prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men worldwide, and a leading cause of cancer death. But before this research, there was no evidence, guidance, and support which we may give to men to reduce their risk of prostate cancer.
The Research Process
The researcher who is an author, professor at the University of Oxford in the UK, Ruth Travis says that from so long we were so interested in studying about the level of two hormones circulating in the blood because our previous research advised they could be linked with prostate cancer.
The researchers studied 200,452 men, and all were free of cancer when they joined the study. And then their blood samples are being tested for their levels of testosterone and a growth hormone called insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I).
The researchers found that men with higher concentrations of the two hormones in their blood were more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer.