Are There Known Environmental Causes That Contribute To Developing Prostate Cancer?

March 16, 2009 -- Question: Are there known environmental causes that contribute to developing prostate cancer?

Answer: One of the biggest environmental causes is diet. And so we know that diet, for example high-fat diets, ways that foods are cooked, the absence of some protective agents from the diet, probably have the strongest evidence as links to prostate cancer. So clearly environment, as far as diet, plays a critical role. There also may be environmental things as far as behaviors we have had. For example the use of statins to change cholesterol levels may also be changing how prostate cancer is developed.