For patients with low-risk prostate cancer managed with active surveillance, obesity may increase risk of progression

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the journal European Urology, researchers have found that obesity is linked with an increased risk of progression of low-risk prostate cancers in patients that are managed by active surveillance.

For the study, the researchers identified 565 men undergoing active surveillance for low-risk prostate cancer. The researchers found that during the median follow-up of 48 months, 168 men (30%) experienced pathologic progression and 172 men (30%) experienced therapeutic progression.

They did not find an association between obesity and risk of progression at the time of confirmatory biopsy, but beyond that, obesity was linked with an increased risk of pathologic progression (P = 0.007) and therapeutic progression (P = 0.007).

For every 5 unit increase in body mass index (BMI), the risk of pathologic progression increases (HR = 1.5, 95% CI: 1.1-2.1, P = 0.02). Similarly, the risk of therapeutic progression increases in the same manner (HR = 1.4, 95% CI: 1.0-1.9, P = 0.05).

Ultimately, the findings suggest that obesity is associated with a significantly elevated risk of prostate cancer progression after the confirmatory biopsy.