Antibiotic and anti-inflammatory use and the risk of prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: Prostate inflammation or infection may increase the risk of prostate cancer. Antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are used to treat prostatitis and urinary tract infections (UTIs). The objective of our study was to assess whether their use decreases the risk of prostate cancer. METHODS: We conducted a case-control study among men with incident prostate cancer (N = 65 cases) and without prostate cancer (N = 195 controls) at the San Francisco Veteran Affairs medical center (VAMC) between June 1996 and June 2006. Cases were all patients who had prostate biopsies positive for cancer. We matched controls to cases on age group and race at a 3:1 ratio, and each matched pair was given an identical index date. Total antibiotic, aspirin, and NSAID use (number of prescriptions) was computed for each participant by drug type and was restricted to a fill date at least 1 year before the index date. Logistic regression was used for analysis. We adjusted for the matching variables (age group and race) and potential confounders (years of VAMC enrollment and number of clinic visits). RESULTS: Neither total antibiotic use nor total anti-inflammatory use reduces the risk of prostate cancer (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: Our analysis did not reveal a relation between use of antibiotics, aspirin, or NSAIDs and the risk of prostate cancer.