Anthropometry in Relation to Prostate Cancer Risk in the Netherlands Cohort Study

Abstract

In the Netherlands Cohort Study, the authors investigated whether anthropometry is associated with prostate cancer risk. At baseline in 1986, 58,279 men aged 55-69 years completed a self-administered questionnaire on diet, anthropometry, and other risk factors for cancer. After 6.3 years of follow-up, 681 cases were available with complete data on height and weight at baseline, and for 523 cases, there were data for weight at age 20 years. In both age-adjusted and multivariate case-cohort analyses (adjusted for age, family history of prostate cancer, and socioeconomic status), height, body mass index (BMI; kg/m2), and lean body mass (kg) at baseline were not associated with prostate cancer risk. The rate ratios of prostate cancer for men with a BMI at age 20 of less than 19, 19-20.9, 21-22.9, 23-24.9, and 25 or greater were 1.00 (reference), 1.06, 1.09, 1.39, and 1.33, respectively (p for trend = 0.02). For gain in BMI from age 20 years to age of the cohort at baseline, an inverse trend in risk was found (p for trend = 0.01), which did not persist after additional adjustment for BMI at age 20 (p for trend = 0.07). In subgroup analyses, no clear associations between anthropometry and advanced prostate cancer were found. Our findings suggest that body composition in young adulthood may already exert an effect on later risk of prostate cancer.

The association between body size, prostate volume and prostate-specific antigen

“…Our observation for an association between obesity or height and prostate volume are consistent with several studies evaluating prostate size or clinical BPH. 4,6,9,11 For example, Freedland et al 9 reported prostate weight was about 5 g greater among prostate cancer patients (70.2%…”

“…9 However, BMI was not associated with prostate volume in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging. 10 Although visceral adiposity 4,6 and height 11 have been associated with clinical BPH, little is known about their relationships with prostate volume.…”

Impact of obesity on prostate cancer recurrence after radical prostatectomy: Data from CaPSURE

“…1 The relationship of obesity to prostate cancer risk is controversial, with some studies indicating that obesity is associated with a decreased incidence of prostate cancer 2 and other studies suggesting an increased incidence of prostate cancer [3][4][5] and worse prostate cancer survival among obese men. [3][4][5] Two recent, retrospective, multi-institutional studies have reported greater recurrence rates among obese patients after radical prostatectomy (RP). 6,7 Obesity was an independent predictor of recurrence in one but not in the other.…”

Can weight loss prevent cancer?

“…Finally, Wright et al found that weight gain from the age of 18 years significantly increased the risk of fatal, but not incident, prostate cancer (Wright et al, 2007). However, not all studies have found an association (Schuurman et al, 2000;Song et al, 2008).…”