Prediagnostic body mass index (BMI), plasma
C-peptide levels and cigarette smoking
predict prostate cancer-specific and overall
mortality: A 27-year survival analysis in
men with prostate cancer
Although obesity and smoking are not
necessarily risk factors for prostate
cancer, they do appear to increase the risk
of dying from the cancer once a patient is
diagnosed with it, according to a study
conducted at the Brigham and Women’s
Hospital.
“In addition, obesity and smoking are major
causes of death in the general population.
Because prostate cancer risk increases with
age, only a fraction of prostate cancer
patients die of the disease.
“The majority of the patients with localized
and low Gleason grade disease die of other
causes such as cardiovascular diseases.
"We,
therefore, need to take overweight/obesity
and smoking history into account when
evaluating clinical prognosis once they are
diagnosed,” said Jing Ma, M.D., Ph.D.,
associate professor of medicine at the
Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Ma and colleagues extracted prediagnostic
body mass index (BMI) and smoking data from
the Physicians Health Study, which included
2,715 men diagnosed with prostate cancer
between 1982 and 2009.
During the 27 years of follow-up, 882 of
these men died, 11 percent of which was due
to prostate cancer.
Researchers performed standard statistical
analysis to determine the risk factors for
mortality and found that for each five point
increase in BMI, risk of mortality increased
52 percent. Compared to those who had never
smoked, current smokers had a 55 percent
increase in mortality from prostate cancer.
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