Obesity and prostate cancer

Purpose of review This review provides an update on research into the association between obesity and prostate cancer. Recent findings The US Health Professional Study reported an inverse relationship between risk for prostate cancer and obesity in men under the age of 60 or in those with a positive family history for prostate cancer. Others found no association between obesity and risk for the disease. Regarding detection, obesity does not impact upon measurement of prostate specific antigen as a method of detecting prostate cancer; however, in a referral population there was an inverse association between detection rate and obesity. In three radical prostatectomy series, obesity was associated with worse pathological features and higher biochemical relapse rates. Possible mechanisms for the association between obesity and prostate cancer include the impact of serum testosterone, leptin, insulin-like growth factor I, and interleukin-6 levels. Summary A growing body of evidence suggests that obesity may impact upon risk, detection and outcome with regard to prostate cancer.