Are you a smoker or do you know one? Smoking can make one more at risk for lung cancer, and it can also increase the risk for prostate cancer. However, the truth to that claim is a little complicated.
Results are very mixed when it comes to smoking having a direct link to causing prostate cancer. Smoking affects certain hormone levels through exposure to carcinogens, which can affect your risk for prostate cancer.
While recent studies have not conclusively said that smoking will make you more likely to develop prostate cancer, research has found a link. Studies have shown that smokers who have prostate cancer have a much higher recurrence rate than nonsmokers. In one study, current smokers were 40 percent more likely to have tumors return after treatment compared to men who never smoked. They were also more than twice as likely for the cancer to spread from the prostate and 89 percent more likely to die from cancer. The good news is that patients who quit smoking 10 years previously were not significantly different from men who never smoked, which should be extra motivation for you to permanently kick the habit.
While smoking may not directly lead to the development of prostate cancer, it can make it more aggressive or more fatal. Smoking has so many other effects on your health; for any current smokers, there’s no better time to quit than now!
