BETHESDA, MD — How does general obesity affect prostate cancer? Thus far, inconsistent evidence has been found for the association between general obesity and prostate cancer among men in the United States.
In response, researchers from the Uniformed Services university of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD, and Virginia Commonwealth University sought to examine whether the association between general obesity and prostate cancer is influenced by abdominal obesity and ethnic groups.
Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) was used for the study published in Research & Reports in Urology. The analysis was restricted to non-Hispanic men (10,683 white and 6,020 Black), with obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) ≥30 and abdominal obesity as waist circumference (WC) ≥102 cm.1
The study team said it found no significant difference in the overall prevalence of prostate cancer between obese and nonobese (2.14% vs 2.25%, P = 0.678). When both obesity measures were combined, however, the general and abdominal obesity category was associated with a significant increase in the odds of prostate cancer in Black men [odds ratio (OR) = 1.49, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.09, 2.04)], but not in white men [OR = 1.29, 95% CI (0.91, 1.82)].
In both Black [OR = 2.46, 95% CI (1.48, 4.06)] and white men [OR = 1.60, 95% CI (1.16, 2.21)], abdominal obesity was associated with a significant increase in the odds of prostate cancer, the researchers advised.
“The association between general obesity and prevalence of prostate cancer depends on abdominal obesity and ethnic groups,” the authors wrote. “Our study utilized a nationally representative survey and emphasized the potential of combined effect of general and abdominal obesity as a modifiable factor to decrease racial disparity in prostate cancer screening and poor outcomes.”
- Ahmed AE, Martin CB, Dahman B, Chesnut GT, Kern SQ. General Obesity and Prostate Cancer in Relation to Abdominal Obesity and Ethnic Groups: A US Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study. Res Rep Urol. 2024 Oct 9;16:235-244. doi: 10.2147/RRU.S489915. PMID: 39403097; PMCID: PMC11472243.
