Study: Obese Men Face Increased Risk From Prostate Cancer

Twin studies published on Friday in the journal BJU International found that diagnosis and surgical removal of 'malignant prostate tumors' is more difficult in obese and overweight men than in normal weight men.

PSA or Prostate Specific Antigen exists in blood in different forms. A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen in the blood. PSA is released into a man's blood by his prostate gland. A healthy male will have lower amount of PSA in the blood while elevated level indicates a heightened cancerdefine risk. A score of 4 to 10 on the PSA test predicts cancer.

The researchers feel that the main reason for the later diagnosis and also 'poor' prognosisdefine seems to be that the PSA test, a standard gold screening test used to screen prostate cancerdefine in men may not be accurate in overweight and obese men.

Dr. Stephen J. Freedland of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina and one of the studies author, said, “Obese men are more likely to be diagnosed with an aggressive form of the disease."

Men who are obese tend to have decreased PSA (prostate-specific antigen) measurements than their thinner counterparts; a possible reason could be that they have large volume of blood, which dilutes their PSA levels. The high blood levels of PSA points out towards the presence of a prostate tumor.

"Our assumption is that these men have more blood volume, so PSA gets diluted. By the time obese men get to elevated levels, the cancer is more advanced, “Freedland said.

Dr. Freedland and his team from Duke University looked at the data of nearly 3400 men who had PSA tests. The researchers compared the men who got their cancer detected by PSA test and men who discovered cancer during a digital rectal exam.

The scientists found that obese male who had their cancer diagnosed by PSA tests were more likely to have more-aggressive tumors and suffer a cancer recurrence after surgery.

"In contrast, obese men with abnormal digital rectal exams had similar outcomes as normal-weight men," Freedland said.

In another study, Duke oncologistdefine Dr. Jayakrishnan Jayachandran, who led the study found that there was a greater chance of cancer being left behind after surgery in overweight or obese men.

An obese men with Body Mass Indexdefine (BMI) of 35 or higher has 60% more chances of having a recurrence of the prostrate cancer as compared to thinner counterpart.

For the last 8 to nine years, health care providers are using PSA screening method more to detect prostate cancer early in men, combined with a digital rectal exam.

Dr. Jayakrishnan Jayachandran, said, 'The aggressiveness of obese men's tumours, coupled with the fact that they may be more difficult to remove, is like a double whammy for being obese.'

The results of the twin studies has strengthen the case for developing alternative prostate cancer screening methods for overweight and obese men or for lowering the PSA threshold for these patients, Feedland said.

Prostate cancer affects 1 in eleven men in Australia and is common in the people above 65 years. In 2008, estimated new cases and deaths from prostrate cancer in United States are 186,320 and 28,660 respectively. Every year approximately 35,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in Britain.

Prostate cancer usually occurs in older men. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in men, lung cancer being the first and is rare in men younger than 40.

The symptoms of prostate cancer may include problems while urinating, such as pain, difficulty starting or stopping the stream or dribbling and low back pain. The treatments for prostate cancer include: surgical removal of the prostate gland, external beam radiationdefine and hormone treatment. Death from prostate cancer is if left untreated a very painful way to die.

A previous study, published in the Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American cancer Society in 2007, found that men who are obese or overweight when diagnosed with prostate cancer are at higher risk of death even after treatment.