Researchers have found an association between excess body weight and an increased risk for cancer recurrence in men with clinically localized prostate cancer.

“Men diagnosed with early-stage prostate cancer and who have excess body weight as indicated by a higher-than-normal body mass index (BMI) have an increased risk for cancer recurrence after treatment,” said Vincent L. Freeman, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the division of epidemiology and biostatistics in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois in Chicago, Ill.

Freeman presented results of this cross-sectional study at the AACR Annual Meeting 2012, held March 31 - April 4.

Freeman and colleagues examined BMI, which measures body weight relative to height, and risk for cancer recurrence based on blood prostate-specific antigen level, physical exam and prostate cancer biopsy results in 119 men who were awaiting surgery for clinically localized prostate cancer.

The results showed that the risk for cancer recurrence increased with increasing BMI. Men in the upper quartile for BMI were nearly eight times more likely to have prostate cancers that had a moderate-to-high risk for recurrence after treatment compared with men in the lower quartile.

Men in the upper-middle and lower-middle quartiles for BMI were 6.5 times and 3.5 times more likely to have a moderate-to-high recurrence risk, respectively.

“The association was not limited to obese men; even being just overweight based on BMI was associated with an increased risk for prostate cancer recurrence,” Freeman said.

He and his colleagues concluded that body weight status and related lifestyle factors connected to prostate cancer could be used as viable indicators for high-risk cases.

“The results provide additional support for a mechanistic link between body weight status and the clinical presentation and course of prostate cancer,” Freeman said. “Our findings also highlight the importance of maintaining a healthy body weight throughout adulthood.”

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute.

Source: AACR