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| |  No Link Between Vasectomy And Prostate Cancer SEATTLE, WA -- December 30, 1999 -- A study by Northwest Hospital urologist Michael K. Brawer M.D. finds that undergoing a vasectomy does not increase a man's risk of developing prostate cancer. The study was published in volume eight of the journal Cancer Epidemiology in 1999. "This is the first study specifically designed to address the question of whether or not vasectomy is a risk factor for prostate cancer. The answer is that vasectomy does not increase a man's risk for prostate cancer," stated Dr. Brawer, director of the Northwest Prostate Institute at Northwest Hospital. "Health care providers, couples considering vasectomies and men who have undergone vasectomies should find this result reassuring." Dr. Brawer and his research team interviewed 753 King County men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer between January 1993 and December 1996. The responses of the men, ages 40-64, were compared to those of 703 men in the same age group who did not have prostate cancer. The prevalence of vasectomy was almost the same in both groups. The study found no association between undergoing a vasectomy and developing prostate cancer. Brawer noted that the men with vasectomies appeared more likely to show earlier stage, lower grade tumors, leading the researchers to speculate that men who get vasectomies may be more likely to seek prostate screening and earlier care for prostate cancer. The possibility of a link between vasectomies and prostate cancer has been a major public health concern. An estimated 500,000 American men undergo vasectomies each year. At the same time, prostate cancer remains the most commonly diagnosed cancer in American men. Over 179,300 American men will learn they have prostate cancer this year, according to the American Cancer Society. Northwest Hospital, a not-for-profit hospital and research center in North Seattle, has been a worldwide leader in prostate cancer research and treatment. The hospital's physicians were the first in the nation to successfully treat prostate cancer with ultrasound-guided radioactive seed implants, and it is the only hospital in the region to provide the new cPSA blood test for prostate cancer.
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