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Backgrounds: Evidence indicating the association of cancers and chronic inflammations is increasing. The importance of urinary tract and sexually transmitted infections (UTIs and STIs) in the development of prostate cancer is still unclear. Chlamydia trachomatis (C. trachomatis) is one of the most important causes of UTIs and STIs. Here, a case-control study was performed on the Iranian population to assess the association between C. trachomatis and prostate cancer (PC).
Materials & Methods: Paraffin-embedded prostate tissue specimens collected from 62 PC and 62 PBH (benign prostate hyperplasia) (as controls) patients were screened to detect C. trachomatis 16srRNA gene using nested polymerase chain reaction (nested PCR) method. A p-value < .05 was interpreted as a remarkable difference using SPSS statistical software Ver. 16.
Findings: There was a significant difference regarding the prevalence of C. trachomatis (p < .001; OR=10.07; 95% CI [2.81-36.001]) between the PC (33.87%) and BPH (4.84%) samples. Furthermore, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels were statistically higher (p< .05) in C. trachomatis-positive patients than in patients with negative C. trachomatis.
Conclusion: It could be concluded that patients with a history of C. trachomatis infections are more likely to develope PC. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of C. trachomatis infection may help the prevention of PC. Moreover, nested PCR is a suitable method for C. trachomatis detection in paraffin-embedded prostate tissue specimens.