CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

South America constitutes a region of great diversity in geography, population, and socioeconomic development. Though, even when epidemiologic and nutritional transitions are at different stages across countries, there are some common characteristics including the increasing prevalence of chronic nontransmissible diseases as prostate cancer. This disease has a complex etiology, with biological and environmental factors implicated, whose study deserves addressing multiple dimensions, both at individual and contextual levels.In this chapter a review of the epidemiological studies on lifestyle and environmental factors and risk of PC focusing on those carried out in countries of South America was carried out. Also, the main results about this topic of the Group of Environmental Epidemiology of Cancer in Córdoba (Argentina) are here presented.There is some suggestion that high intake of dairy products, red and processed meat, as well as dietary patterns characterized by higher intakes of red and processed meat, eggs, refined grains and sugary beberages, may play some role in the development of prostate cancer. Obesity, tobacco smoke and occupational exposure, mainly combined with other risk factors could also be associated with total and advanced prostate cancer. There is no clear association with the intake of vegetables and fruits, lycopene, fats, different types of fatty acids or arsenic exposure through drinking water. The evidence on diet and other environmental factors on prostate cancer risk is still inconclusive in South America. Particular attention must be paid to the study of prostate cancer risk in countries of South America because of the singularly risky scenario with exposure of its population to multiple and combined factors.