Perinatal and childhood factors and risk of prostate cancer in adulthood: MCC-Spain case-control study

In utero and early-life exposures are suspected to modulate the risk of prostate cancer. This study examines the influence of certain perinatal and childhood-related factors on prostate cancer risk overall and by Gleason score at biopsy.

MCC-Spain is a multicase-control study where 1088 histologically-confirmed incident prostate cancer cases (aged 42-85years) and 1345 population-based controls (aged 38-85years), frequency matched by age and province of recruitment, were recruited in 7 Spanish provinces. Self-reported perinatal and childhood-related characteristics were directly surveyed by trained staff. The association with prostate cancer risk, globally and according to Gleason score at biopsy, was evaluated using logistic and multinomial regression mixed models, adjusting for age, family history of prostate cancer, educational level and body mass index one year before the interview, and including the province as a random effect term.

Most perinatal factors were not related to prostate cancer risk, with the exception of middle-high socioeconomic level at birth (OR for high grade tumors=1.36; 95%CI=1.09-1.68). Regarding puberty, risk rose by 6% for each year of delayed onset (OR=1.06; 95%CI=1.01-1.10; p trend=0.016), with a clear excess of risk in men who reached puberty after age 15 (OR:1.35; 95%CI=1.08-1.68). A borderline significant positive association with prepubertal height was also observed (p trend=0.094).

Some exposures experienced in utero and during adolescence, when the prostate is still maturing, might be relevant for prostate cancer risk in adulthood.