Its president, Dr S Selvalingam said similar studies on the issue had been done on an observational basis, without investigating other factors that can lead to prostate cancer such as genetics and diet.
“Unless there is a randomised study where you compare (findings) between two matched groups can you tell whether there is definitely a correlation between ejaculation and a higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
“But it will be very difficult to conduct such a study, methodologically speaking,” Selvalingam, himself a urologist, told FMT.
“So we do need better, properly designed studies to be able to answer that question.”
He also said doctors should not advise patients to ejaculate more often because observational studies have what he described as “low-level evidence”.
“Some patients may misunderstand this and harass their wives or look for more partners as an ‘excuse’ to ejaculate more,” he added.
“There are lots of ways this instruction can be abused so we have to be careful.”
He said however that he would not dismiss the link between ejaculation and the lower risk of prostate cancer but cautioned that at present, there was conflicting evidence and more studies were needed.
The prostate is a walnut-sized gland found only in males and located below the bladder in front of the rectum. The prostate creates the fluid that makes semen.
Prostate cancer, or glandular cancer, occurs when normal semen-secreting prostate gland cells mutate into cancer cells. The slow-growing cancer mostly affects men above 50 years of age.
Symptoms include slower urine flow, difficulty when urinating, blood in the urine or semen, as well as testes infection.
Recently, a report from Taiwan’s United Daily News quoted the director of a men’s health centre in a local hospital as saying men who do not ejaculate regularly were at higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
This is because without a healthy sex life or regular ejaculation, stones may form in the prostate, which could lead to inflammation. Long-term inflammation can then lead to prostate cancer.
The director was also quoted as saying that senior citizens should have a healthy sex life to ensure their prostate health is maintained, adding that those with partners who can’t “cooperate” and have sex, should masturbate instead.
Selvalingam agreed that a regular sex life does have its own advantages for men but said he would not list prevention or reduced risk of prostate cancer as one of its benefits.
“At this point we can’t use this one study to tell patients to ejaculate more (so their chances of getting prostate cancer is decreased).
“But at least we know that there is evidence to show that people with good sexual health also have good overall general health,” he said. “That’s as much as we can probably advocate for.”
According to the National Cancer Registry, prostate cancer is the fourth most common male cancer in the country, while the Malaysian Oncology Society said it accounted for 5.7% of all cancer cases among men.