Katie Kosko

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Compared to public water systems, private well water use is associated with higher grade prostate cancer tumors, particularly among certain racial and ethnic groups, according to a first-of-its-kind study presented during the 25th Annual Meeting of the Society of Urologic Oncology.
The analysis included over 300,000 men who were a median age of 68 years and received a prostate cancer diagnosis between 2010 and 2017. Researchers determined tumor severity through data from Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Database-Medicare (SEER-M). The US Census, American Community Survey data, and private well density (PWD) was used to obtain private well water exposure information. The median PWD was four wells per 1,000 people.
“Contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and microbial pathogens, can leach into groundwater, posing potential health risks to individuals relying on private wells. Environmental exposure may be an important factor in understanding cancer risk and the need for future research to understand how certain contaminants might influence cancer severity,” the researchers said.
In the cohort, data revealed tumors to be 15% grade 1, 42% grade 2, 42% grade 3, and 1% grade 4. While private well water was a continuous variable, other variables in the analysis included age, race/ethnicity, marital status, diagnosis year, and socioeconomic status.
The researchers observed a significant positive association between increased PWD and increased severity of prostate cancer with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.12. Moreover, older age at diagnosis (OR 1.04) and being Black non-Hispanic (OR 1.11), Asian and Pacific Islander (OR 1.15), and American Indian and Alaskan Native (OR 1.14) also showed a link to higher tumor grade. Lower tumor severity was associated with being married and prostate cancer diagnosis in later years.
“Future research should consider exposure to particular environmental contaminants and relevant confounders such as distance to biopsy centers to best understand their relationships with prostate cancer severity,” the researchers said.
Reference
O&#8217;Leary CJ, Pfail J, Khosrow-Khavar F, et al. Association between private well water exposure and prostate cancer severity: analysis of a national cohort of patients from 2010-2017. Poster #94. Presented at the 25th Annual Meeting of the Society of Urologic Oncology; December 4-6, 2024; Dallas, Texas.

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Contaminants, such as heavy metals, pesticides, and microbial pathogens, may influence cancer severity. 

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