Study: Men Who Sleep With Over 20 Women Have Lower Prostate Cancer Risk

A recent study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology has found that the more sexual partners a man has, the less likely he is to develop prostate cancer, and that men who have slept with over 20 women had lowered their risk by almost a third.

Researchers looked at 3,200 men between the years 2005 and 2009. They found that men who had developed prostate cancer were twice as likely to have a relative with the cancer as well. But they also found that the number of sexual partners a man has a profound effect on the chances of developing cancer. Men who had slept with over 20 women 28 percent less likely to develop prostate cancer and 19 percent less likely to develop aggressive forms. Men who had never had sexual intercourse faced double the risk of developing cancer than those who had had sex. Lead researcher Dr. Marie-Elise Parent hypothesizes, via Telegraph:

“It is possible that having many female sexual partners results in a higher frequency of ejaculations, whose protective effect against prostate cancer has been previously observed in cohort studies…”

But when asked whether public health authorities should recommend men to sleep with many women in their lives Dr Parent added: “We’re not there yet.”

They also found that men who had slept with 20 men doubled their risk of prostate cancer compared to men who had never slept with another man. And the risk of developing a less aggressive form increased five times compared to men who have only had one sexual partner.

Dr Parent said that she could only formulate “highly speculative” hypotheses to explain the association.

“It could come from greater exposure to STIs, or it could be that anal intercourse produces physical trauma to the prostate,” she said.

But the researchers maintained that there were no associations found between STIs and prostate cancer. Still, though, 20 women? Damn. Maybe this will lead to a new trend in pick-up lines: “Hey is that a mirror in your pocket? Because I see myself developing the most common form of cancer in American men (aside from skin cancer) that affects one in seven men and will kill one in 36, but you can help stop the spread of this horrific disease by doing the sex with me.”