Sexually Transmitted Infections, especially Herpes II, and Prostate Cancer among Men in the U.S. Military
a statistically significant association between prostate cancer and serologic evidence of HSV-2 infection was detected in the earlier sample (odds ratio, 1.60; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-2.44).

The strength of this association increased when analyses were restricted to sera collected at least 60 months before diagnosis (odds ratio, 2.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.26-3.29; 204 pairs).

Abstract
Studies of self-reported sexually transmitted infections (STI) suggesting an association with prostate cancer may reflect underreporting of such infections among nondiseased subjects. To reduce such bias, we studied archived sera in a cohort of U.S. military personnel known to have high rates of both STIs and prostate cancer. Using a nested case-control design, serum samples from 534 men who served on active duty between September 1, 1993 and September 1, 2003 were examined. Controls were individually matched to cases based on date of serum collection, date of birth, branch of service, military rank, marital status, and race. Each of the 267 case-control pairs had two serum samples: a recent serum sample, taken ∼1 year before the case's prostate cancer diagnosis, and an earlier serum sample, taken ∼8 years before diagnosis. Each serum specimen was studied for antibodies against human papillomavirus, herpes simplex virus-2 (HSV-2), and Chlamydia trachomatis. Logistic regression accounted for matching and potential confounding factors.

Study data indicated no association between prostate cancer and serologic evidence of infections just before the reference date.

However, a statistically significant association between prostate cancer and serologic evidence of HSV-2 infection was detected in the earlier sample (odds ratio, 1.60; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-2.44).

The strength of this association increased when analyses were restricted to sera collected at least 60 months before diagnosis (odds ratio, 2.04; 95% confidence interval, 1.26-3.29; 204 pairs).

1. Leslie K. Dennis1,
   2. Julie A. Coughlin1,
   3. Brittany C. McKinnon1,
   4. Timothy S. Wells2,
   5. Charlotte A. Gaydos3,
   6. Eva Hamsikova4 and
   7. Gregory C. Gray1

      1Department of Epidemiology, College of Public Health, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa; 2Air Force Research Laboratory, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio; 3Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; and 4Department of Experimental Virology, Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Prague, Czech Republic