Men who have had a vasectomy are at higher risk of developing prostate cancer . This is the conclusion of the study carried out by scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston (USA) and which has been published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology .
The research, which had a 24-year follow-up, was based on a sample of 50,000 men , making it the largest and most comprehensive study of its kind. The participants were between 40 and 75 years old at the beginning of the study, of which 6,023 were diagnosed with prostate cancer. 811 of them died from this disease.
Taking into account that 1 in 4 participants had had a vasectomy , the researchers found that the overall increased risk of developing prostate cancer was 10% in men who had had a vasectomy, but this percentage doubled for the risk of fatal prostate cancer: 20%, since of all the volunteers, 16 out of every 1,000 developed fatal prostate cancer .
"The decision to opt for a vasectomy for contraception is highly personal and a man should discuss the risks and benefits with his doctor," says Kathryn Wilson, study coatura.
