Weight Of Prostate Cancer Patient Linked To Tumor Size

bdhilton
bdhilton Member Posts: 866 Member
edited March 2014 in Prostate Cancer #1
Humm...I was in excellent shape so it is interesting how so many "general" conclusions do not apply to me... ...Judge for yourself...whole article can be found here:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/190715.php

The size of tumors in prostate cancer patients is directly linked to their weight, according to a new six-year study conducted by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

The research team, led by Nilesh Patil, M.D., of Henry Ford's Vattikuti Urology Institute and Department of Radiology, found heavier patients, or those with the highest body mass index (BMI), also had the largest tumors. They discovered the connection after studying 3,327 patients who had undergone robotic removal of their cancerous prostate glands and surrounding tissue.

"As the patients body mass index increased, the tumor volume increased synchronously," says Dr. Patil. "Based on our results, we believe having a larger percentage of tumor volume may be contributing to the aggressive nature of the disease in men with a higher BMI."

The study was presented June 2 at the 2010 American Urology Association's annual meeting in San Francisco.

Working from a well-established link between aggressive prostate cancer and higher BMI, the team set out to find if overweight and obesity specifically affects the tumor volume in cancerous prostates.

The BMI measures body fat based on combined height and weight in adult men and women, and sets a number that defines underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity - from 18.5 or less for underweight to 30 or higher for obesity. Tumor volume is the size of a malignant tumor as a percentage of the space it takes up in the affected tissue, in this case the prostate gland.

Patients were studied from October 2001 to October 2007. They were divided into six categories based on their BMI ��" 24.9 or less (normal or underweight), 25 to 29.9 (overweight), 30 to 34.9 (obese), and 40 or higher (morbidly obese). In each category, the mean age was about 60.

After their tumors were removed, each was weighed and compared to a categorized database of prostate weight. In each BMI category, they found the weight of the patient to be directly correlated to the size of the tumor (i.e. the smaller the patient, the smaller the tumor, and the heavier the patient, the larger the tumor).

In addition to Dr. Patil, study co-authors at Henry Ford Hospital included Sanjeev Kaul, M.D.; Akshay Bhandari, M.D.; James Peabody, M.D.; and Mani Menon, M.D.

Source:
Krista Hopson
Henry Ford Health System

Comments

  • Kongo
    Kongo Member Posts: 1,166 Member
    #2
    Good Post
    Great info, BD. I seem to recall reading a related study that men with higher BMI also had more post surgical complications and had higher incidence of of incontinence and ED but I can't put my finger on it now, although it makes sense to me and men with higher BMI are generally more at risk for cancer in general as well as a lot of other things.
  • steckley
    steckley Member Posts: 100
    #3
    Hmmm
    bd

    Interesting.

    I had a 70 gram prostate (kind'a large) ... and a BMI of 23.1 (175 lb @ 6 foot)... based on this study. I should have had a smaller prostate... or I should have been fatter.

    Maybe I'd be an outlier in their data ... or maybe they had a low correlation coefficient ... the article doesn't give much in way of the statistics of their study ... I wonder how other guys compare to the study results.
  • bdhilton
    bdhilton Member Posts: 866 Member
    #4
    Kongo said:

    Good Post
    Great info, BD. I seem to recall reading a related study that men with higher BMI also had more post surgical complications and had higher incidence of of incontinence and ED but I can't put my finger on it now, although it makes sense to me and men with higher BMI are generally more at risk for cancer in general as well as a lot of other things.

    Yes there are a number of
    Yes there are a number of concluded studies and ongoing studies stating that weight gain after prostate treatment and smoking after prostate treatment makes for a extremely high reoccurrence rate…makes sense to me..What Was interesting to me on this weight of prostate is that every guys I personally know that had surgery had a large prostate (including me) but were in excellent shape… I have respect for the Henry Ford Center but I am giving their findings a “Humm…”

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