Men with Metabolic Aberrations Have Lower Prostate Cancer Risk

Men with metabolic aberrations are at lower risk of a prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis compared with men who have normal levels of metabolic factors, but their risk of PCa-related death is similar and their risk of death from other causes is much higher, according to a new study published online ahead of print in Epidemiology.

The study, led by Christel Häggström, MD, of Umeå University in Umeå, Sweden, included 285,040 men in the Metabolic Syndrome and Cancer Project. The project consists of 7 sub-cohorts from Norway, Sweden, and Austria with prospectively gathered data on body mass index (BMI), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and circulating levels of glucose, total cholesterol, and triglycerides, which were the metabolic factors examined in the study.

During a mean follow-up period of 12 yers, 5,893 men were diagnosed with PCa, 1,013 died from PCa, and 26,328 died from other causes. After 1996, when PSA testing was introduced, men up to age 80 with normal metabolic levels had a 13% risk of PCa, a 2% risk of PCa-related death, and a 30% risk of death from other causes. The risks among men with metabolic aberrations were 11%, 2%, and 44%, respectively.

The mean age of the study population was 44 years. Of the 285,040 men, 125,757 (44%) were overweight and 30,175 (11%) were obese.

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