Lifestyle-Related Factors and Dietary Components that Affect the Risk of Prostate Cancer in a Brazilian Study Group

The incidence of prostate cancer (PCa) is increasing among Brazilian men. There are only a few studies about risk factors for PCa among Brazilian men, and to date, there are no studies about dietary components that affect PCa risk.

A case‒control study was performed on data from 125 PCa patients from a reference center for cancer treatment in Northeast Brazil. Data were obtained from medical records and interviews and compared with 250 age-matched controls. Binary logistic regression analysis was applied to obtain odds ratios (ORs) and confidence intervals (95% CIs) of the variables.

According to the regression analysis model, hypertension, family history and ever smoking increased the risk of PCa 2.940 (95% CI: 1.81-4.78), 2.268 (95% CI: 1.31-3.92) and 2.715 (95% CI= 1.67-4.41) times (p< 0.001; p= 0.003; p<0.001), respectively. The consumption of red and processed meat increased the risk of disease by 0.6% (OR= 1.006; 95% CI: 1.00-1.01; p= 0.048) and 7.2% (OR= 1.072; 95% CI: 1.02-1.13; p= 0.012), respectively, for each gram of intake per day. The consumption of cruciferous vegetables reduced the risk by 22.0% for each g intake per day (OR= 0.978; 95% CI: 0.96-1.00; p= 0.052).

Hypertension, family history and smoking increased PCa risk among men in the present study. Additionally, red and processed meat increased the risk of disease, and cruciferous vegetables had a protective effect. The present results indicate that lifestyle-related factors and dietary components affect PCa risk among Brazilian men. Health authorities should include information about these risk and protective factors in their PCa prevention campaigns.