The Mayo Clinic’s large-scale study answers it once and for all…
Most men are nervous enough about getting a vasectomy. And for three decades, conflicting studies haven’t made them feel any better.
Some researchers warned that the birth control procedure increases chances of prostate cancer1.
Scientists at the famed Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, recently set out to settle the controversy. They recently completed a large review of the past 30 years of vasectomy studies to determine if cancer fears are justified.
The researchers analyzed 53 studies with a combined 15 million men who had a vasectomy and were then followed for up to 24 years.
The verdict?
Recently published in the scientific journal JAMA Internal Medicine, their work found a 0.6% absolute increase in lifetime risk. This is a miniscule increase that the researchers say is “clinically insignificant.”
The study also found “no association between vasectomy and risk of high-grade, advanced, or fatal prostate cancer.”
Dr. Bimal Bhindi is an urologist at the Mayo Clinic and lead author of the study. He said prostate cancer should not be a factor when a man decides whether to a get a vasectomy2.
“Although patients should be appropriately counseled, concerns about the risk of prostate cancer should not preclude clinicians from offering vasectomy to couples seeking long-term contraception,” the study concluded.
The results confirm those from an American Cancer Society study last year. It found no correlation between vasectomy and prostate cancer3.
