Prostate cancer linked to high sexual activity in men under 40

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:38 PM on 26th January 2009

Prostate cancer cells: Scientists say frequent sexual activity in the 30s and 40s increases men's risk of the disease

Men who are ‘very’ sexually active in their 20s and 30s are more likely to develop prostate cancer, scientists have said.

Frequent sexual activity between those ages increases the risk of the illness in later life, according to researchers.

But frequent activity in a man's 40s and older appeared to have little impact on their risk, data published in this month's issue of BJU International journal revealed.

Small levels of activity in a man's 50s could even offer protection from the disease.

Dr Polyxeni Dimitropoulou, now at the University of Cambridge, said: ‘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.

‘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, 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, together with 409 controls.

Most of the differences were attributed to self-stimulation rather than sexual intercourse, the researchers said.

The survey found 59 per cent of men said they had engaged in sexual activity 12 times a month or more in their 20s.

Men who took part in the study were asked about all aspects of their sex life from their 20s onwards, including how old they were when they became sexually active, how many sexual partners they had had and whether they had had any sexually transmitted diseases.

All the men with prostate cancer had been diagnosed in their 50s.