May 21 : Scientists have found that veterans exposed to Agent Orange may be at a 48 per cent increased risk of post-surgery recurrence of prostate cancer than their unexposed counterparts, and the disease returns to them in a more aggressive form.

Agent Orange contains the carcinogen, dioxin, which can be stored in body fat and is believed to make its way into the cell nucleus and work as a tumour promoter.

“We need to be screening these patients earlier, treating their cancer aggressively and following them closely afterward because they are at higher risk for recurrence,” says Dr. Martha Terris, chief of the Urology Department at the Augusta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and professor of urology at the Medical College of Georgia.

“We looked at all patients, whether they were exposed or not, to see which were more likely to develop a recurrence and patients with a history of Agent Orange exposure were more likely,” says Dr. Sagar R. Shah, MCG urology resident who is presenting the data May 20 during the American Urological Association Annual Meeting in Anaheim, Calif.

The researchers studied 1,653 veterans who had prostate cancer surgery between 1990 to 2006 at Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers in five cities, 199 of whom had been exposed to Agent Orange, a herbicide and defoliant sprayed on the dense forests of Vietnam during the war.

They found that veterans with Agent Orange exposure were more likely to be black and younger at the time of surgery to remove their prostate gland.

When the disease recurred, exposed veterans experienced a more rapid biochemical progression of their disease, with the PSA measures doubling in almost half the time of their unexposed peers.

The researchers also compared recurrence rates in exposed and non-exposed black and white subjects.

“As a population in general, if you were exposed to Agent Orange, you’re more likely to have a recurrence. If you were black and exposed, you were more likely to recur than if you were black and unexposed,” says Dr. Shah.

Dr. Terris points out that the recurrence of disease in men who had their prostate removed indicates that microscopic cancer cells can migrate out of the area before surgery, becoming detectable later when they start pushing PSA levels back up. (ANI)