Are Dietary and Environmental Factors Responsible for the Increasing Incidence of Prostate Cancer in Sri Lanka over Past Ten Years?

¹Menzies Health Institute, Queensland, Australia

²Retired Deputy Director, Department of Establishments, Ministry of Public Administration and Management, Independence Square, Colombo 07, Sri Lanka

*Corresponding author: Manosha Lakmali Perera, Menzies Health Institute, Queensland, Australia, Tel +94 71 3271945, ORCID: 0000-0001-7275-2736; Email: [email protected].

Received Date: October 15, 2023

Published Date: November 09, 2023

Citation: Perera ML, et al. (2023). Are Dietary and Environmental Factors Responsible for the Increasing Incidence of Prostate Cancer in Sri Lanka over Past Ten Years? Mathews J Cancer Sci. 8(4):45.

Copyrights: Perera ML, et al. © (2023).

ABSTRACT

Prostate cancer is one of the cancers with increasing incidence in Sri Lanka. It elevated from 9^th to 5^th position during the past decade. This cancer type accounted for 7% of Sri Lankan male malignancies in 2019. Alarmingly, this cancer type is the 2^nd most common neoplasm in the 65 years and above age group of males in Sri Lanka in the same year. The aetiology of prostate cancer is multifactorial, even though familial history or inherited genetic mutations play a vital role in the aetiopathogenesis of this malignancy. In the era of evidence-based medicine, reliable and accurate databases on socio-demographic, clinical and risk factors of prostate cancer patients are of utmost importance. Sri Lanka has been a forerunner in maintaining Healthy Lifestyle Centres (HLCs) since 2011 to address the lack of community based screening for non-communicable disease (NCD). However, community-based annual serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing and digital rectal examinations (DRE) starting by age 50 for men with a life expectancy of at least 10 years are notable service gaps of HLCs which could have reduced the burden of prostate cancers in Sri Lanka. This old age disease of men needs attention of Cancer Epidemiologists, Oncologists, Cancer Researchers as well as Consultant Urological Surgeons. In this context, this commentary aims to make awareness among Medical Scientists to find out the answer to the research question; Are dietary and environmental factors responsible for the increasing incidence of prostate cancer in Sri Lanka?

Keywords: Prostate Cancer, Aetiology, Prostate Specific Antigen, Multifactorial.