Sleep deficiency is a major public health problem. There are limited human data on whether sleep duration or disruption are risk factors for prostate cancer.
We prospectively followed 32,141 men in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS) who reported their typical sleep duration in 1987, 2000 and 2008.
We identified 4,261 incident prostate cancer cases, including 563 lethal cases through 2010. Sleep disruption was assessed in 2004 among 19,639 men, with 930 prostate cancer cases (50 lethal) identified from 2004-2010. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between sleep insufficiency and risk of overall and lethal prostate cancer.
In 1987, 2% of men reported sleeping ≤5 hours/night. We found no association between habitual sleep duration or change in sleep duration with risk of advanced or lethal prostate cancer. We also found no association between waking up during the night, difficulty falling asleep, or waking up too early and risk of prostate cancer. In 2004, 6% of men reported never feeling rested when they woke up; these men had an increased risk of developing lethal prostate cancer compared to those who reported always feeling rested when they woke up (RR=3. 05, 95% CI=1. 15-8. 10).
We found no consistent association between self-reported sleep duration or sleep disruption and any of our prostate cancer outcomes.
We did not find support for a consistent association between self-reported sleep and risk of advanced or lethal prostate cancer in this large cohort of men.
Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology. 2015 Dec 16 [Epub ahead of print]
Sarah C Markt, Erin E Flynn-Evans, Unnur Valdimarsdottir, Lara G Sigurdardottir, Rulla M Tamimi, Julie L Batista, Sebastien Haneuse, Steven W Lockley, Meir Stampfer, Kathryn M Wilson, Charles A Czeisler, Jennifer R Rider, Lorelei A Mucci
Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health. Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departmentsof Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital. , Centre of Public Health Sciences, University of Iceland. , Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland. , Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. , Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health. , Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health. , Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital. , Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School. , Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health. , Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, Departments of Medicine and Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital. , Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health. , Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.