While being in a committed relationship is associated with a better prostate cancer prognosis, little is known about how marital status relates to its incidence. Social support provided by marriage/relationship could promote a healthy lifestyle and an increased healthcare seeking behavior. We investigated the association between marital status and prostate cancer risk using data from the PRACTICAL Consortium. Pooled analyses were conducted combining 12 case–control studies based on histologically-confirmed incident prostate cancers and controls with information on marital status prior to diagnosis/interview. Marital status was categorized as married/partner, separated/divorced, single, or widowed. Tumours with Gleason scores ≥ 8 defined high-grade cancers, and low-grade otherwise. NCI-SEER’s summary stages (local, regional, distant) indicated the extent of the cancer. Logistic regression was used to derive odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between marital status and prostate cancer risk, adjusting for potential confounders. Overall, 14,760 cases and 12,019 controls contributed to analyses. Compared to men who were married/with a partner, widowed men had an OR of 1.19 (95% CI 1.03–1.35) of prostate cancer, with little difference between low- and high-grade tumours. Risk estimates among widowers were 1.14 (95% CI 0.97–1.34) for local, 1.53 (95% CI 1.22–1.92) for regional, and 1.56 (95% CI 1.05–2.32) for distant stage tumours. Single men had elevated risks of high-grade cancers. Our findings highlight elevated risks of incident prostate cancer among widowers, more often characterized by tumours that had spread beyond the prostate at the time of diagnosis. Social support interventions and closer medical follow-up in this sub-population are warranted.

虽然保持忠诚的关系与更好的前列腺癌预后相关，但人们对婚姻状况与其发病率的关系知之甚少。婚姻/关系提供的社会支持可以促进健康的生活方式和增加就医行为。我们使用实用联盟的数据研究了婚姻状况与前列腺癌风险之间的关联。汇总分析结合了 12 项病例对照研究，这些研究基于组织学证实的前列腺癌事件和对照，以及诊断/访谈前的婚姻状况信息。婚姻状况分为已婚/伴侣、分居/离婚、单身或丧偶。格里森评分≥8的肿瘤定义为高级别癌症，否则为低级别癌症。 NCI-SEER 的总结阶段（局部、区域、远处）表明了癌症的范围。使用逻辑回归得出婚姻状况与前列腺癌风险之间关联的比值比 (OR) 和 95% 置信区间 (CI)，并调整潜在的混杂因素。总体而言，14,760 个病例和 12,019 个对照对分析做出了贡献。与已婚/有伴侣的男性相比，丧偶男性患前列腺癌的 OR 为 1.19 (95% CI 1.03–1.35)，低级别和高级别肿瘤之间几乎没有差异。鳏夫的局部肿瘤风险估计为 1.14 (95% CI 0.97–1.34)，区域肿瘤风险估计为 1.53 (95% CI 1.22–1.92)，远处肿瘤风险估计为 1.56 (95% CI 1.05–2.32)。单身男性患高级癌症的风险较高。我们的研究结果强调了鳏夫患前列腺癌的风险升高，其更常见的特征是在诊断时肿瘤已扩散到前列腺之外。 有必要对该亚群进行社会支持干预和更密切的医疗随访。