Prostate cancer : survival after a similar surgery in obese and non-obese

Despite the presence of cancer more aggressive prostate cancer in obese patients, the survival rate after surgical treatment was similar in obese and other patients , according to a study published in the journal "Cancer" .
The role of obesity in the development and response of prostate cancer treatment is not clear . Some studies have shown that obese patients had an increased risk of recurrence after surgical removal of the prostate ( prostatectomy) compared with normal-weight men risk.

Sameer Siddiqui from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (USA ) and colleagues conducted a study of 5,313 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy between 1990 and 1999 to assess the impact of obesity on the clinical course of prostate cancer and the long-term survival . The median follow-up of patients was 10 years.

The patients were divided into three groups according to their body size defined by the value of the body mass index (BMI , weight ratio of the square of height ) . A BMI <25 corresponds to a normal weight , a BMI between 25 and 29.9 to be overweight and a BMI > 30 with obesity .

The clinical and pathological aspects of prostate cancer proved worse in obese patients than in other patients. However, after surgery , obesity has caused no impact on biochemical progression ( rate of prostate antigen , PSA ) and systemic cancer or the recurrence-free survival nor overall survival.

Despite prostate cancers tend to be more aggressive at the start, the long-term survival after surgical treatment appears identical in obese patients and in non-obese patients , the authors conclude.