Early-life alcoholism and prostate cancer risk: what is the relation?

Prostate cancer incidences in Africa are on the rise, presenting with it a lot of challenges. In Ghana, prostate cancer is the commonest and the leading cause of cancer mortality in males. It is believed that alcohol consumption in the early stages of life may be a risk factor for developing prostate cancer. This belief is based on the evidence that alcohol may act as a carcinogen itself or may modulate the risk from other carcinogens through several known mechanisms. Notwithstanding, studies of this kind hitherto had not been explored in the African context. In this study, the relationship between drinking behaviour at the youthful ages of life and the risk of developing prostate cancer were explored.