Fried chicken, battered fish and doughnuts can also have the same effect, they warned. Worse still, the types of tumour linked with consumption of deep fried treats tend to be more aggressive and life threatening, research showed.
The latest findings, by a team of experts in the US, suggest take-away foods and snacks may have a significant role to play in the formation of prostate cancers.
Although previous studies have suggested poor diet can affect a man's chances of getting the disease, this is the first to indicate that deep-fried convenience foods in particular pose such a big danger.
Results published in the journal The Prostate found snacking on deep fried foods at least once a week appeared to increase the risk of cancer by between 30 and 37 per cent compared to men who claimed to eat them less than once a month. Nearly 40,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed every year in the UK and 10,000 men die from it - the equivalent of more than one an hour.
The risks increase with age, with men over 50 more likely to develop a tumour, and there is a strong genetic element to it. As with some other types of cancer, diet is thought to be a key factor in the development of the disease.
Last year, for example, a study found a diet rich in oily fish could slash a man's chances of dying from prostate cancer by up to 40 per cent, possibly because fish oil contains anti-cancer properties which slow the growth of malignant cells.
Previous studies have shown that eating foods cooked at a very high heat, such as grilled meats, could raise the risk of a tumour. But given the level of consumption of deep fried take away foods in the UK, the latest findings suggest these are a much bigger threat to male health.
The market for fast-foods and take aways in the UK is thought to be worth over £9 billion and is growing at an average of five per cent a year. Experts at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre in Seattle, US, analysed data from two population-based studies involving a total of 1,549 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and another 1,492 men of similar age and profile who were in good health.
All the participants, who were aged from 35 to 74, completed detailed questionnaires on their eating habits. The researchers then made allowances for other factors that could influence the men's chances of getting prostate cancer, such as their weight, age, whether they had a family history of the disease and their racial background - as disease rates are higher among Afro-Caribbean communities.
They were then able to calculate the extent to which eating chips, chicken or doughnuts at least once a week affected cancer risk.
"This is the first study to look at the association between intake of deep-fried foods and risk of prostate cancer," said Dr Janet Stanford, who led the research.
"The link appeared to be limited to the highest level of consumption - defined in our study as more than once a week.
"This suggests that regular consumption of deep-fried foods confers a particular risk for developing prostate cancer."
The exact reason why favourites like chips and fried chicken might exacerbate cancer risk remains unclear. One theory is that when cooking oil is heated to the kind of temperatures needed for deep frying, potentially carcinogenic compounds can form in the food. One is called acrylamide, often found in chips or French fries.
Others include two groups of chemicals called heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which can form in meat cooked at high temperatures. Deep-fried foods are also very high in potentially harmful compounds called advanced glycation endproducts.
These have been linked with causing inflammation and cancer-like degradation of cells in the body. A chicken breast deep fried for 20 minutes contains nine times the amount of these materials as a chicken breast boiled for an hour. Cancer Research UK said it was too early to say for certain if there is a link between deep fried foods and prostate cancer. Oliver Childs, senior science communication officer, said:
"It's clear that a healthy diet high in fruit, vegetables and fibre and low in red meat and salt is better for overall health than one packed full of greasy fast food.
"But from this study alone, we can't be certain if there's a link between fried food and prostate cancer."
Dr Iain Frame, director of research at Prostate Cancer UK said: "Although this study does indicate a small association between eating deep fried food regularly and increased prostate cancer risk, the results relied on asking men to recall how often they had eaten these foods in the previous three to five years."
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