Male reproductive health and prostate cancer risk

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Male infertility impacts a substantial proportion of men and has serious implication for a man's quality of life. Advances in reproductive technology may allow men to bypass urologic care in order to achieve their family planning goals. Recent data suggests that male reproductive failure may be a harbinger of future urologic diseases, including prostate cancer (CaP), thus emphasizing the importance of dedicated urologic evaluation and care for all male infertility patients. RECENT FINDINGS: We will review the epidemiologic data that explores an association between male reproductive health and CaP. We will review the potential biologic mechanisms that may underlie this association, and explore possible reasons for inconsistencies in study findings. SUMMARY: Studies of the association between male infertility and CaP are inconsistent. Despite this, the association between reproductive health in a man's fourth decade (30s) and his development of aggressive CaP in his sixth decade (50s) should not be ignored. These findings, combined with the robustness of the potential common underlying mechanisms, provide a foundation for future studies of male reproductive health that are more specific in their approach to answering questions about the association between male reproductive failure and future systemic disease.