Vietnam military service history and prostate cancer

Justine Leavy,Lin Fritschi,Gina Ambrosini

doi:10.1186/1471-2458-6-75

Justine Leavy, Lin Fritschi + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-6-75

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Abstract

BackgroundThree decades after US and Australian forces withdrew from Vietnam, there has been much public interest in the health consequences of service in Vietnam. One controversial question is whether the risk of prostate cancer amongst Vietnam veterans is increased. This paper examines relationships between military history, family history and risk of prostate cancer in a population-based case control study.MethodsCases were selected from the Cancer Registry of Western Australia as incident cases of histologically-confirmed prostate cancer, and controls were age-matched and selected from the Western Australian electoral roll. Study participants were asked to report any military service history and details about that service.ResultsBetween January 2001 and September 2002, 606 cases and 471 controls aged between 40–75 years were recruited. An increased prostate cancer risk was observed in men reporting they were deployed in Vietnam although this was not statistically significant (OR = 2.12; 95% CI 0.88–5.06). An increased risk was also observed in men reporting prostate cancer in fathers (OR = 1.90; 95% CI 1.20–3.00) or brothers (OR = 2.05; 95% CI 1.20–3.50) diagnosed with prostate cancer.ConclusionThese findings support a positive association between prostate cancer and military service history in the Vietnam war and a first degree relative family history of prostate cancer.

Highlights

Three decades after US and Australian forces withdrew from Vietnam, there has been much public interest in the health consequences of service in Vietnam
Having a father or brother with prostate cancer almost doubled the risk of prostate cancer (Table 2)
After adjusting for family history, the risk of prostate cancer in those serving in Vietnam was 2.08;

Summary

Introduction

Three decades after US and Australian forces withdrew from Vietnam, there has been much public interest in the health consequences of service in Vietnam. For more than two decades the perceived ill-health of Vietnam veterans has been a public issue in Australia. Vietnam veterans have been studied in Australia and elsewhere, in an attempt to explain how service-related experience may affect their health and well-being in both the short and long-term [2]. A higher prevalence of several conditions (including prostate cancer) was found in Vietnam veterans compared to the Australian community standard [2]. We aimed to use a case-control design to examine whether service in the Vietnam war may be associated with an increased prostate cancer risk after adjusting for known risk factors such as age and family history

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