Link Between Vietnam Service And Prostate Cancer Is Statistically Insignificant

A report that appears in the March 2006 online issue of BMC Public Health focuses on the co-relation between men in the armed forces who served in Vietnam and the incidence of prostate cancer (CaP). This co-relation exists since a defoliate called Agent Orange has been linked to CaP.

However by Dr. Leavy and colleagues did not find a statistically significant link between the two. Between 2001 and 2002, 606 men with CaP from Western Australia participated in a case-control study, where they answered questionnaires on personal demographics, family cancer history, screening history and occupational history. This data was then compared to case-matched control men obtained from the Electoral Roll. It was found that a family history increased the risk of prostate cancer by two-fold. A history of military service did not increase the risk although Vietnam service did to a insignificant degree. The study used a population-based cancer registry and confirmed cases of CaP.