Excess Weight Increases Risk of Prostate Cancer Death

MONDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Men with prostate cancer who are overweight or obese or have high levels of C-peptide, a marker of insulin secretion, have a higher risk of dying from prostate cancer, according to research published online Oct. 6 in The Lancet Oncology.

Jing Ma, Ph.D., from Harvard Medical School in Boston, and colleagues examined the effect of baseline body mass index (BMI) and plasma C-peptide levels on prostate cancer-specific mortality in 2,546 men diagnosed with prostate cancer, of whom 38.8 percent were overweight (BMI 25-29.9) and 3.4 percent were obese (BMI of 30 or more).

The researchers report that 11 percent of men died from prostate cancer during the 24-year follow-up period. Overweight and obese men had a significantly higher risk of dying of prostate cancer (proportional hazard ratio 1.47 and 2.66, respectively) compared with normal weight men (BMI under 25). This was true regardless of clinical stage and Gleason grade. Of the 827 men with available C-peptide levels, 14 percent died of prostate cancer, the investigators found. Men with high C-peptide levels had a higher risk of prostate cancer mortality (hazard ratio 2.38 for the highest versus the lowest quartile). Men who were overweight or obese and had high C-peptide levels had a much higher risk of death (hazard ratio 4.12) regardless of clinical factors, the authors report.

"Excess bodyweight and a high plasma concentration of C-peptide both predispose men with a subsequent diagnosis of prostate cancer to an increased likelihood of dying of their disease," Ma and colleagues conclude.

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)