You should check whether you are overweight or obese*. If you have prostate cancer and are overweight, you should try to lower your weight immediately.
A new study presented at the American Urological Association inWashington,DCfound that overweight and obese prostate cancer patients are more likely to have their cancer spread.
Researchers atDukeUniversityfollowed 287 men who had their prostate gland after the cancer diagnosis for 6 years. All these patients received androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) after the surgery, but their cancers recurred.
They found that overweight were three times more likely to have their cancer spread and obese men were five times more likely to have their cancer spread.
The researchers hypothesized that obese men, due to their huge body size, may not be receiving adequate doses of the ADT.
Whether the reason of cancer metastases was due to inadequate dose or not, it is always wise to maintain a normal weight. Beside cancer protection, a normal weight can also prevent cardiovascular disease.
In US, about 217,730 new cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed in 2010 and about 32,000 of these men died of the disease in the past year.
*A body mass index (BMI) of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered normal weight. A BMI of 25 to fewer than 30 is overweight, and a BMI of 30 or above is obese.
Source: American Urological Association annual meeting, May 14-19, 2011,Washington,D.C.
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