Is your Height and Weight linked to risk of developing Prostate Cancer?
Based on the results of a new study, you are at higher risk of developing aggressive variant of prostate cancer, if you are tall and obese.
The stud conducted by researchers at Oxford University proposed a mechanism that explains the positive correlation among male height, weight and risk of developing aggressive malignancy of prostate gland.
So, is there an association between prostate cancer risk and physiological parameters?
A number of studies that were previously conducted, yield no definitive results. It is interesting though that a number of studies investigated the relationship between body mass index and risk of prostate malignancy; but the results were biased and misleading because:
- None of the studies accounted for the aggressiveness or stage of the cancer
- Previous studies didn’t account for the height of individuals in calculating the risk of prostate cancer
As part of the study conducted by the team of Oxford University scientists, led by Dr. Aurora Perez-Cornago, investigators analyzed the data of 141,896 male study subjects with a median age of 52 years. The study participants belonged to different European countries like Sweden, UK, Greece, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Denmark and were a part of Cancer and Nutrition -European Prospective Investigation.
The data revealed:
- Discovery of prostate cancer in 7,024 men
- Advanced prostate disease in 1,388 men
- Discover of high grade tumor in 726 men
After thorough analysis, scientists concluded that height alone does not aggravate the risk of developing prostate cancer, but it is linked to a 21% higher risk of developing a high-grade or aggressive prostate malignancy. In addition, researchers also identified that tall height is also linked with worse prognosis – with 17% higher mortality rate in tall prostate cancer patients.
Likewise, patients with high BMI are at greater risk of developing aggressive (or high-grade) prostate cancer and are at higher risk of developing complications including high mortality. It is noteworthy that in aging men, waist circumference is considered as the more reliable criterion versus BMI. If waist circumference is considered, the risk of developing high grade prostate malignancy increases by 13% in obese men with an 18% higher mortality rate.
The team of scientists attributed this association with changes in hormones with increasing fat mass and suggested that weight loss can play a major role in at -risk population. Scientists also suggested that the risk of complications can be greatly reduced with weight reduction.
Although the results of this study are very promising, more research is needed to establish an association.