So, my back story: drinking beers from 16 years and on and overdid in college and dental school. So, not causation, drinkers may also smoke, and this was a study on Vets only. More studies will be done, but my query in the forum is what was your alcohol experience and how aggressive was your PCa? Just an informal poll of us.
I was hit with Stage IV in 01/2015, Mets to L side ureter lymph nodes/65m gram tumor on median lobe on prostate, PSA @ 840, 15 chemos, 30 months ADT and had a nadir of 0.1
I drank quite a bit in my life, too much really. I quit when it started causing me pain. I figured it might end up causing some kind of medical problems for me. It may have been a contibuting factor for me, who knows. It is a known carcinogen and a risk factor for a variety of cancers. Read this in an article: The research evidence indicates that the more alcohol a person drinks—particularly the more alcohol a person drinks regularly over time—the higher his or her risk of developing an alcohol-associated cancer. Based on data from 2009, an estimated 3.5 percent of all cancer deaths in the United States (about 19,500 deaths) were alcohol related.
The lists I've seen do not include PCa. From the same article: Numerous studies have examined the association between alcohol consumption and the risk of other cancers, including cancers of the pancreas, ovary, prostate, stomach, uterus, and bladder. For these cancers, either no association with alcohol use has been found or the evidence for an association is inconsistent.
A brand new study has found that any amount of alcohol is bad. But they were careful not to advocate for abstinence. The article said "No amount of driving is safe either and we don't recommend that people stop driving." The key is moderation, that seems to work for a lot of things.
You are referring to the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center data, I suppose [1]:
"Relative to nondrinkers, men who consumed ≥7 drinks/week at ages 15 to 19 had increased odds of high-grade prostate cancer diagnosis (OR = 3.21 ...)"
(But isn't the U.S. legal age 21? LOL)
The lead researcher is at the Department of Histopathology and Morbid Anatomy ... Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Ireland might seem to be a better place to look for young drinkers. After all, the legal age is 18 - (16 if with an adult.) Perhaps the problem is finding Irish men who did not consume ≥7 drinks/week at ages 15 to 19? With a name like mine (Patrick O'Shea) I can get away with such slurs, I hope.
Anyway, I lacked the funds at that age to be able to drink as much as I might have, but my doctors have been horrified by my alcohol intake over the years, including now.
I was not that concerned after diagnosis 14 years ago, since studies at that time had not reported an association. I did switch to red wine exclusively at the time, but will now drink beer & Scotch too.
Note that there were "similar findings for ages 20 to 29, 30 to 39, and 40 to 49. Consistent with these results, men in the upper tertile of cumulative lifetime intake had increased odds of high-grade prostate cancer diagnosis (OR = 3.20 ..)"
However: "In contrast, current alcohol intake was not associated with prostate cancer."
Note that one doesn't go directly to high-grade PCa - there are lesser intermediate points. Perhaps heavy drinkers are less likely to be screened? Or maybe they tend to have lower PSAs & get biopsied at a later stage? Detection bias?
More bad news for drinkers [2] (no safe level):
"Alcohol use is a leading risk factor for global disease burden and causes substantial health loss. We found that the risk of all-cause mortality, and of cancers specifically, rises with increasing levels of consumption, and the level of consumption that minimises health loss is zero. These results suggest that alcohol control policies might need to be revised worldwide, refocusing on efforts to lower overall population-level consumption."
{Funding by: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. I knew there was something dodgy about him.}
Regarding the legal drinking age, when I was in the USAF 1959-1963 (WOW that was a long time ago) The legal drinking age on base was 18 and off base 21 (NJ)
I was cured of drinking at age 12, I got ahold of a 12 pack of piels big mouth. The next morning at 5 am my dad woke me up for my paper route, I had to go, but puked the whole way, since then I did not drink much. Dxed 2006 GS10
Lol, oh how I remember Piels big mouths when I was a kid. I think you could buy 12 for maybe a 1.99 and back then it was all about the quantity not quality. Yeah, that put a hurting on a guy. Very much reminds me of chemo treatment number 6.
Kevin was a very heavy drinker (6+ beers/day) and almost daily THC smoker. He was diagnosed at 44yo, PSA 2740, mets throughout and died 21 months after diagnosis. Aggressive, yes. I have always believed ETOH consumption was closely associated with his disease. However, as a nurse, I have seen countless, aging heavy drinkers without cancer histories. When I have seen cancer, it usually is liver, esophageal or colon cancer.
I too drank too much at time. Not daily and some times not for years. But in my youth I partied with the worst of them .. don’t drink now. Don’t like the taste anymore. No way to tally up as a bachelor how much spent on booze.. buying drinks for everyone was costly .. I did have fun ..
I heard it said once that Brits believe that we all grow old and die, but Americans believe that if you die it's because you drank too much, didn't exercise, and didn't eat your broccoli.
At this point I can point to at least a dozen ways in which my risk for PCa was increased following conception, but alcohol is not near the top.
Alcohol is associated with poor vitamin B12 status. B12 is essential for recycling homocysteine back to methionine. Unfortunately, methionine, via SAM (SAMe), is the methyl donor that allows PCa cells to become hypermethylated.
In essence, we have a paradox similar to that of related folate: insufficiency can lead to DNA instability & cancer, but can be protective once cancer occurs.
I can only relate my experience: didn't drink, didn't smoke, exercised regularly. At 74 diagnosed with MPC: Gleason - 9 in all 12 cores, a bunch to mets to boot. Perhaps I would have gotten MPC sooner if I drank, smoked, didn't excercise in my earlier years? Although I had symptoms, Docs. didn't recommend biopsy sooner. Might have helped avoid metasteses. Too late now.
From what I can gather from this web site and other learned sources, alcohol will not cause or affect PCa.
No PCa in my family, dxd at 64 with T3b... I didn’t smoke, but was exposed to my Dad’s two pack/day habit until 18yo... also drank moderately from high school till recently, not excessively, could also be a factor... probably my biggest risk factor was milk, drinking almost two gallons per week, plus red meat, and an egg every day... if anything I would point to my diet... always thought I could make up my vices through a very active lifestyle and exercise... so I thought.
My husband is allergic to alcohol, can only drink 1 bottle of beer once a yr, during his birthday, and yet he was diagnosed with stage 4 pca at a young age of 44. However he used to be a heavy smoker before diagnosis as he worked for a tobacco company for 15yrs which I think contributed a lot to his cancer diagnosis last yr.
Great results dockam. I too inbibbed a little too much from 21- 53. But a beer after a run is great carbs .. kept up the good work.. Mahalo 🤙🏽for the photos and your uplifting spirit.
“ Too much of anything is bad, but to much whiskey is barley enough.” Mark Twain ... I used to like the fine scotch a little too much . Now I don’t miss it at all., Peace , you’re lookin good amigo .. thanks
Laying low in the eye of this APC hurricane.. happy to be as well as I am. We’re is the surf city run? Huntington? Keep doing you brother..looks like fun..
Yep, Huntington Beach CA. I have the Run to Remember 1/2 marathon in April and that's to honor fallen first responders, Centanni-Cottle Memorial 5k two weeks later to honor two Marines from the same town who died. My best to you Brother
I wonder if you knew my friend a Vietnam vet from
Garden grove James Austin - master of hopkido . ? He was in his early 80’s ’and .. Passed of bladder C two summers ago at the VA in Long Beach . Miss that guy! master James ..
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Should my advanced micrometastatic treatment be more aggressive
Marijuana use may be associated with reduced prevalence of prostate cancer - cross sectional study
Cheap, Accessible Drug May Offer Hope for Aggressive Cancer
Stay away from Vitamin B12
Vasectomy and Risk of Prostate Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. significant association between vasectomy and any-grade PCa 
