Abstract

BACKGROUND
The role of obesity in prostate cancer etiology remains controversial. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between obesity and prostate cancer risk. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between January 2000 and June 2005, 286 patients suspected of having prostate cancer underwent prostate biopsy. The clinical records of the 286 study patients were retrospectively reviewed with regard to age, Body Mass Index (BMI), serum PSA, TRUS, and prostate biopsy results. They were stratified by BMI into three groups according to the cutoffs recommended for Asian populations: normal, BMI less than 23 kg/m2; overweight, BMI 23 to 25 kg/m2; and obese, BMI greater than 25 kg/m2. RESULTS: As for BMIs, 132 (46.2%) were normal, 95 (33.2%) overweight and 59 (20.6%) were obese. A total of 99 (34.6%) patients were diagnosed as having prostate cancer. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, no significant association was observed between BMI and prostate cancer detection. CONCLUSION: We initially hypothesized that obesity may be biologically associated with increased prostate cancer development. However, our study did not show a significant association between BMI and prostate cancer.

• Keywords: Prostate cancer;Body mass index;Obesity;