Excess Weight Gain May Increase Risk of Prostate Cancer

Men's Health
Excess Weight Gain May Increase Risk of Prostate Cancer
By: Madeline Ellis Published: Saturday, 5 September 2009

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We are all aware of the plethora of complications that can arise from packing on excess pounds, the most common being high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes. Obesity also results in an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and some forms of cancer. In females, there is up to a threefold increase in the incidence of breast, cervical and ovarian cancer, while the risk of endometrial cancer is up to seven times higher. For men, there is an increased incidence of colon cancer and, according to a new study—prostate cancer, especially for white men who gained excess weight in young adulthood. To find out more about the relationship between weight and prostate cancer, researchers at the University of Hawaii collected and analyzed on nearly 84,000 men of different ethnic groups; African-Americans, Japanese, Latinos, Native Hawaiians and Caucasians, all of whom had participated in a long-term study called the Multiethnic Cohort. Overall, more than 5,500 were diagnosed with prostate cancer.While the researchers found that “body mass in both younger and older adulthood, and weight gain between these periods of life, may influence prostate cancer risk,” the degree of risk varied depending upon when men put on the excess weight, their race and ethnicity. For example, higher weight gain in older adulthood was associated with increased risk of prostate cancer among Caucasian and Native Hawaiian men and a decreased risk among Japanese men. Caucasian men who gained excess weight in young adulthood increased their risk of advanced or high-grade prostate cancers, the most dangerous form, while African-American men increased their risk for less hazardous, localized and low-grade forms of the disease. Study author Brenda Y. Hernandez, an assistant professor at the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii, speculated that genes and lifestyle may account for the differences in risk. “The relationship of certain characteristics, such as body size, with cancer risk may vary across ethnic groups due to the combined influence of both genes and lifestyle,” she said. “This study underscores the importance of investigating cancer etiology in diverse populations.”However, Victoria Stevens, strategic director of laboratory services at the American Cancer Society said that while the study shows there are risk differences between ethnic groups, the differences are not clearly defined. “Their findings aren’t definitive,” Stevens said. “They are just not clear-cut—you don’t see a simple linear relationship.” She added that it also remains unclear whether weight gain is as important in prostate cancer as it is for other malignancies. “Exactly what that risk is, we still don’t know.”Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting 1 in 6 men. Age is the biggest risk factor for developing the disease. Although only 1 in 10,000 under age 40 will be diagnosed, the rate rises to 1 in 38 for ages 40 to 59, and 1 in 15 for ages 60 to 69. In fact, more than 65 percent of all prostate cancers are diagnosed in men over the age of 65. However, race and family history are important factors as well. According to previous research, African American men are 61 percent more likely to develop prostate cancer compared with Caucasian men and are nearly 2.5 times as likely to die from the disease. Men with a single first-degree relative—father, brother or son—with a history of prostate cancer are twice as likely to develop the disease, while those with two or more relatives are nearly four times as likely to be diagnosed. The risk is even higher if the affected family members were diagnosed at a young age, with the highest risk seen in men whose family members were diagnosed before age 60.Social and environmental factors, particularly diet and lifestyle, likely play a role as well. In fact, recent research has shown that diet modification might decrease the chances of developing prostate cancer, reduce the likelihood of having a recurrence, or help slow the progression of the disease.The full report is published in the September issue of Cancer Epidemiology.