Common STD Link to Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Chelsea Parris
Sept. 11
12:50pm

In this article it says, men with prostate cancer who were previously infected with the sexually transmitted germ Trichomonas vaginalis are more likely to have an aggressive form of the cancer compared with men who never had the STD. The germ is a parasite that spurs the growth of prostate later in life. Men infected with Trichomonas were no more likely than STD-free men to develop prostate cancer in general. But those with a past Trichomonas infection were two to three times more likely to develop an aggressive and potentially life-threatening form of prostate cancer. However, it's an important issue to consider, right now if you asked the average urologist if Trichomonas vaginalis lead to prostate cancer the answer would be no, and in fact this study doesn’t prove a cause-and-effect relationship.
I thought this article was interesting and kind of a scary finding for men and maybe even women. The STD Trichomonas is not a very harmful STD and most people don't even know they have it because most do not show any symptoms. It is only recently discovered that this seemingly harmless STD can be the cause of terminal prostate cancer. It just seems scary that you may have an STD that you don't even realize until years later when you develop prostate cancer. They are only saying it's an issue for men but it can also be an issue for women to and they just haven't realized yet. The only way to be safe is to get annual checks to make sure you do not have an STD.

http://news.health.com/2009/09/10/std-aggressive-prostate-cancer/