Analysis Confirms Link Between Smoking and Prostate Cancer

A meta-analysis of 24 previous studies concluded that there is “good evidence that prostate cancer is likely a smoking-related tumor,” according to researcher Michael Huncharek.

Reuters reported March 3 that Huncharek, a researcher at the Meta-Analysis Research Group in Columbia, S.C., and colleagues found “surprisingly consistent evidence” that the risk of developing and dying from prostate cancer increase if you smoke. Some studies indicated that heavy smokers face a 22-percent higher risk of developing the disease and a 30-percent higher risk of dying from it.

The analysis will be published in the April 2010 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.