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Obesity may not raise a man's risk of
developing prostate cancer, but it may make him more likely to die
of the disease.
A new study, published in the February
2007 issue of CANCER, involving almost 288,000 American men,
revealed that higher body mass index (BMI) and weight gain in
adults, had strong links with increased risk of death from prostate
cancer.
Curiously, the researchers found that
overweight men were actually less likely to develop prostate cancer
than thinner men, but once a man developed the disease, the heavier
he was, the greater was his risk of dying from it.
The results showed that severely obese
men had the lowest risk of developing prostate cancer. However, when
it came to prostate deaths, the risk increased in tandem with a
man's weight. The more overweight, the more likely the cancer would
prove fatal.
The researchers suggest that hormones
might help explain why excess fat would be linked to prostate cancer
death, but not development. Obesity reduces levels of testosterone,
which helps fuel prostate cancer, and thus excess weight may help
prevent the disease in the first place.
Meanwhile, overweight men have higher
levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 and the hormone leptin. These
are believed may aid the progression of tumours once started.
Therefore, once an overweight man develops prostate cancer, it may
be more likely to become fatal.
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