The objectives of this study were to investigate whether venereal diseases, prostatic and urinary infections, and other selected conditions of the genital and urinary tracts may have a role in the development of prostate cancer. We analysed data from a hospital-based case-control study conducted between 1985 and 1992 in Italy, including 280 cases of prostatic cancer and 689 controls, hospitalized for acute, non-neoplastic, non-genital or urinary tract conditions. We calculated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals using unconditional multiple logistic regression. The odds ratios of prostate cancer were 0.64 for history of selected venereal diseases, 0.53 for prostatitis, 0.67 for benign prostatic hyperplasia, 1.53 for urinary tract stones and 1.76 for cystitis. No relationship, however, was observed for cystitis>or=5 years before prostate cancer. The present study, based on satisfactorily reproducible information on medical history, did not found any association between genital and urinary tract diseases and prostate cancer risk.