Prostate cancer warning over little-known symptom affecting one in 7 men

A common type of urinary tract infection (UTI) could be an overlooked warning sign of prostate cancer and urological cancers, according to new research linking it to a significantly higher risk of diagnosis. Scientists from Lund University in Sweden have warned that men who develop acute cystitis, a common UTI, are seven times more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer within three months of the infection. The study, published in the BMJ Public Health journal examined data from 1.7 million men and 1.9 million women aged 50 and over from Sweden.

Between 1997 and 2018, 427,821 women and 177,736 men were recorded as having acute cystitis. During the same period, 57,882 women and 199,144 men were diagnosed with urogenital cancers with 24,137 of those cancer cases occurring after a cystitis diagnosis.

Cystitis, an inflammation of the bladder typically caused by a bacterial infection, is commonly seen as a routine health issue, especially in women but this large-scale study suggests it may also act as a clinical warning sign for more serious conditions in both women and men.

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer in the UK, affecting around 55,000 men annually and causing 12,000 deaths each year.

The risk of bladder cancer also jumped nearly 34 times in men and 30 times in women in that same three-month window. The likelihood of kidney cancer was 11 times higher in men and almost eight times higher in women who had recently suffered from cystitis.

Women also faced an increased risk of gynaecological cancers, including uterine and ovarian cancers, in the months following cystiti,s between four and eight times higher, according to the data

The authors of the study wrote: "Acute cystitis can precede urogenital cancers in men and women aged over 50 years. The increased risks were particularly high within 3 months after the acute cystitis event and persisted for several years."

They added: "Acute cystitis may act as a useful predictor of urogenital cancer in men and women aged 50 years and older."

They pointed to a number of possible factors that could explain the results, stating: "It is plausible that urogenital cancer, and perhaps even precancerous changes in the urogenital organ, might increase the risk of cystitis because of compromised urinary tract and host defence.

"Moreover, it is possible that certain occult urogenital cancers, especially urinary tract cancers, could present symptoms similar to those of cystitis, which might explain the particularly high risk of subsequent urogenital cancer shortly after the cystitis event.

"For clinicians, the findings indicate that acute cystitis could be a clinical marker for urogenital cancer."