Gonorrhea and Prostate Cancer Incidence: An Updated Meta-Analysis of 21 Epidemiologic Studies

BACKGROUND The association between gonorrhea and prostate cancer risk has been investigated widely, but the results remain inconsistent and contradictory. We conducted an updated meta-analysis to obtain a more precise estimate of this association. MATERIAL AND METHODS PubMed, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched for papers up to June 2014 to identify eligible studies. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the influence of gonorrhea on prostate cancer risk. RESULTS Twenty-one observational studies (19 case-control and 2 cohort) were eligible, comprising 9965 prostate cancer patients and 118 765 participants. Pooled results indicated that gonorrhea was significantly associated with increased incidence of prostate cancer (OR 1.31, 95% CI 1.14-1.52). The association between gonorrhea and prostate cancer was stronger in African American males (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.06-1.65) than in Whites (OR 1.05, 95% CI 0.90-1.21). CONCLUSIONS Our findings suggest that gonorrhea is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, especially among African American males. These results warrant further well-designed, large-scale cohort studies to draw definitive conclusions.