Weight gain in late teens, 20s raises chances of fatal prostate cancer: Study

According to a study presented at the European Congress on Obesity ECO in Dublin in Ireland weight gain in a mans late teens and early twenties raises his chances of dying from prostate cancer later in life Weight increase throughout the course of a mans life was connected with getting prostate cancer overall as well as aggressive and deadly prostate cancer according to a review of data on more than 250000 men in SwedenWeight increase between the ages of 17 and 29 was responsible for the association with aggressive and deadly prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men globally with more than 14 million cases diagnosed annually It is most common cancer in men in Sweden with 10000 cases a year and the most common cause of cancer death in males with 2000 deaths annuallyIt is the most common cancer in men in the UK with around 52000 cases a year and the second most common cause of cancer death in males with almost 12000 deaths a year Knowing more about the factors that cause prostate cancer is key to preventing it says Dr Marisa da Silva of the Department of Translational Medicine Lund University Malmo SwedenThe only wellestablished risk factors such as increasing age a family history of the disease and several genetic markers are not modifiable making it vital to identify risk factors that can be changed In addition although many prostate cancers are slowgrowing and may not cause a man harm during his lifetime others are more aggressive they have or are likely to spread quickly outside the prostate and are harder to treat and it is important to find out if they have the same or different risk factorsPrevious research has found strong evidence that excess body fat increases the risk of fatal prostate cancer The evidence that body fat is associated with prostate cancer overall is however unclear In addition many of these studies relied on measures of body fat from one point in time and did not assess aggressiveness To learn more about the links between weight and prostate cancer Dr da Silva and colleagues analysed data on 258477 men whose weight had been measured at least three times between the ages of 17 and 60 years as part of the Obesity and Disease Development Sweden ODDS studyWeight was measured objectively 8337 subjectively 537 and recalled 1237 The men who were free of prostate cancer when they enrolled in the ODDS from 19632014 were followed up until 2019 median follow up 43 years Prostate cancer diagnoses and deaths during that time were logged 23348 participants were diagnosed with prostate cancer with an average age at diagnosis of 70 years and 4790 men died from prostate cancerThe participants gained on average 045 kgyear during a median of 16 years from the first to last weight observation Weight gain was greatest early in life It was an average of 073 kgyear 16lbyear at 17 to 29 years 034 kgyear 075lbyear at 30 to 44 years and 022 kgyear 05lbyear at 45 to 60 years Weight gain was associated with both the development of prostate cancer and its aggressivenessWeight gain over half a kg or 11lb per year compared to stable weight across a mans life was associated with a 1037 greater risk of aggressive prostate cancer and a 29 percent greater risk of fatal prostate cancer Further analysis showed that this link was being driven by weight gain between the ages of 17 and 29 years For a man who gains 1kg 22lb a year between the ages of 17 and 29 years total weight gained across this period 13kg21lbs this is associated with a 13 percent increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer and a 27 percent increased risk of fatal prostate cancerDr da Silva said Previous research has implicated elevated concentrations of insulinlike growth factor1 IGF1 a hormone that is involved in cell growth and development with an increased risk of prostate cancer Levels of this hormone are raised in people with obesity and a steep increase in weight may fuel this elevation and the development of the cancerThe researchers conclude that preventing weight gain in young adulthood may reduce the risk of aggressive and fatal prostate cancer Dr da Silva added We do not know if it is the weight gain itself or the long duration of being heavier that is the main driver of the association that we see Nevertheless one must gain weight to become heavier so preventing a steep increase in weight in young men is imperative for the prevention of prostate cancerAlso Read International Mens Day 2022 What is Movember and why you need to know about prostate cancer affecting menThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever