Obesity raises prostate cancer death risk

November 19, 2007

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Men who are overweight or obese at the time they are diagnosed with prostate cancer are nearly twice as likely to die from their disease after treatment as men who are not overweight or obese.

"This provides one more reason for physicians to counsel their patients on lifestyle modifications aimed at maintaining an ideal body weight," study investigator Dr. Jason A. Efstathiou from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, told Reuters Health.

In 2007, over 218,000 American men are expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and over 27,000 will die from the disease. While obesity has been identified as a risk factor for more aggressive prostate cancer, the impact of obesity on survival following treatment is less clear.

Efstathiou and associates looked at the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and death from prostate cancer and other causes in 788 men who were treated appropriately for locally advanced prostate cancer.

They report in the journal Cancer that compared to men with normal BMI (below 25), overweight men with BMI between 25 and 30 were more than 1.5 times more likely to die from their cancer. Similarly, obese men with BMI of 30 or above were 1.6 times more likely to die from their disease compared to men with normal range BMI.

After 5 years, the prostate cancer-specific death rate was 6.5 percent for men with a BMI below 25, 13.1 percent for men with a BMI between 25 and 30, and 12.2 percent in men with a BMI of 30 and above.

"We are planning to investigate whether or not lifestyle interventions aimed at weight loss after diagnosis with prostate cancer will lead to better outcomes," Efstathiou said.

"Although it is possible that treatments may be less effective in obese men than in normal-weight men, there is no indication at this time that the form of treatment should be any different," Efstathiou added. "Determining what is the preferred management strategy for obese men warrants further study."