The Blood Type That Could Increase A Man's Risk Of Prostate Cancer

Every year, more than 299,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed, according to the American Cancer Society. And although prostate cancer can be treated successfully, it's still deadly for more than 35,000 biological males annually.

If you have a prostate, you can take some important behavioral steps toward lowering your risk of developing this gender-specific cancer. Johns Hopkins Medicine recommends decreasing your intake of saturated fats, increasing your consumption of healthier foods, exercising and maintaining a normal weight, and quitting the smoking habit. However, some potential risk factors for prostate cancer can't be changed because you inherited them from your parents, including your blood type.

Though it might sound unusual, the type of blood you have (which is typically A, B, AB, or O, unless you have a rare blood type) may affect your chance of developing prostate cancer. Specifically, three blood types have shown a possible correlation with the future diagnosis of prostate cancer: types A, B, and AB. These are considered non-O blood type variants. But why would non-O blood types have an increased risk of prostate (or any) cancer? The answer appears to stem from the ABO gene, which is only present in those with non-O blood types.

The probability of a cancer-connected mechanism within the ABO gene appears to be high, according to a 2016 study in Cancer Epidemiology. During the study, the lives of 1.6 million blood donors were tracked for a total of 27 million years; those with non-O blood types showed a marked cancer diagnosis uptick.

Other experiments, trials, and reviews have resulted in what appears to be a link between specific non-O blood types and prostate cancer. For instance, a 2017 study in Disease Markers explored the relationship between non-O and O blood types and prostate cancer. The findings seemed to show a correlation between non-O types and a higher incidence of aggressive prostate cancer. Meanwhile, a 2018 study in Oncology Letters weighed blood type against the development of prostate, kidney, and bladder cancer. Individuals with type B blood seemed to be more apt to receive a prostate cancer diagnosis.

Of course, you're not destined to experience prostate cancer if you have a non-O blood type; correlation and causation are different concepts. Plus, not all clinical studies support the non-O blood type link with prostate cancer: A 2014 study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology came to the conclusion that deadly prostate cancer was more likely in people with O blood type and less likely for those with AB blood type.

With that said, if you have already had prostate cancer once and gone through treatment, you might wonder if your blood type could affect your chances of experiencing a recurrence. Once again, science may be able to provide possible answers. In a 2014 study presented at the European Association of Urology, men with type O blood who had been surgically treated for prostate cancer (and whose cancer went into remission) had a 35% lower chance of recurrence than their counterparts with type A blood.

When asked about the outcomes of the study, the study's lead researcher, Dr. Yoshio Ohno, shared that more research was needed around prostate cancer progression to determine precisely how to clinically interpret and apply the results. However, one practical suggestion Ohno floated was providing individualized cancer counseling to prostate cancer survivors based on their blood types as part of their continuing treatment plans.