Cadmium, Sexually Transmitted Disease, and Risk for Prostate Cancer

Background: Several studies suggested that cadmium and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) may increase risk for prostate cancer. However, these associations are not well established. The aim of this study was to investigate as- sociations among cadmium, STDs, and risk for prostate cancer. Methods: A community-based case-control study of 113 newly diagnosed, incident cases and 258 age and race frequency- matched community controls was conducted in the Piedmont Triad area of North Carolina. All participants completed a medical/lifestyle/dietary questionnaire, underwent anthropometrics, and provided urine samples. Urinary cadmium was used as a biomarker of lifetime cadmium body burden. Multivariable unconditional logistic regression was used to assess associations among cadmium exposure, history of STDs, and risk for incident prostate cancer. Results: Neither cadmium nor STD exposures alone were statistically significantly associated with risk for prostate cancer (odds ratio (OR) = 0.91; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.49-1.69; and OR=1.32; 95% CI: 0.49-3.52, respectively). How- ever, men with high urinary cadmium who also had a history of a STD had significantly increased risk for prostate cancer (OR=9.75; 95% CI: 1.28, 74.05), an association that was stronger for advanced tumors.