Obesity epidemic and its impact on prostate cancer

Recent federal reports have identified obesity as epidemic in the United States, and that that greater body mass index can be associated with a number of debilitating health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Five studies will be presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) in San Francisco that show obesity can be linked to lower detection rates, higher-grade tumors, and higher biochemical failure and recurrence rates in prostate cancer patients. Col. Judd Moul, M.D., of the Department of Defense Center for Prostate Disease Research at Walter Reed Army Medical Center/Uniformed Services University, will moderate the briefing, to be held Tuesday, May 11, 2004 at 11:00 a.m. in the Moscone Center.

Five major studies will be presented:

• Obesity is a Predictor of Biochemical Failure following Prostatectomy: This statistical examination of data from five equal access medical centers reviewed clinical and pathological variables and biochemical outcome information and found that men with a body mass index of more than 35 kg/m2 were at a higher risk of failure than men with body mass index between 30 kg/m2 and 35 kg/m2.
• Obesity Related to Higher Recurrence Rates, Pathologic Variables: Obesity may play a role in the progression to clinically significant prostate cancer and also higher recurrence rates.
• Association of Obesity to Prostate Cancer Patient Demographics, Clinical Disease: This study, using data from CaPSURE, indicates that obese patients may present with lower-risk prostate cancer at diagnosis due to either increased interaction with the medical community due to multiple co-morbidities or a biological benefit to being overweight.
• No Link Between Obesity and Post-Prostatectomy Disease Progression: This study, reviewing patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, found no association between body mass index and disease progression in patients treated with prostatectomy for clinically localized prostate cancer.
• Relation of Normal Body Mass Index (BMI) to Prostate Cancer Detection and Biopsy Features: Normal BMI was shown to correlate with a higher prostate cancer detection rate and larger cancers.

“We can now add prostate cancer to the growing list of diseases that appear to be worsened by the growing obesity epidemic in this country,” said Dr. Moul. “It appears we need ‘Boot Camp to Beat Prostate Cancer.’”

Full abstracts are available online at https://www.auajournals.org/loi/juro/group/d2000.y2004.

Founded in 1902 and headquartered outside Baltimore, MD, the AUA is the preeminent professional organization for urologists. The AUA pursues its mission of fostering the highest standards of urologic care by carrying out a wide variety of programs for its members.The AUA also offers http://UrologyHealth.org, a patient resource developed by member experts.