By IANS
New York : Obese men with prostate cancer face a higher risk of death even after treatment, a US study has found.
Prostate cancer affects the prostate gland of the male reproductive system and obesity is a known risk factor for the disease.
Doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston studied about 945 men between 1987 and 1992 to see the impact of weight on survival after treatment of prostate cancer.
The study participants had undergone treatment for locally advanced prostate cancer.
They found that being overweight or obese at time of diagnosis was an independent risk factor for death from prostate cancer, reported health portal Medical News Today.
The study showed that men with a BMI between 25 and under 30, which means they were overweight, at the time of diagnosis were more than 1.5 times more likely to die from the cancer than men with normal BMI (lower than 25).
BMI or Body Mass Index is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.
Men with a BMI of 30 or over (obese) were 1.6 times more likely to die from the disease compared to men with normal BMI, the researchers said.
After 5 years, men with BMI under 25 had a prostate cancer specific mortality rate of 6.5 percent. This compared to 13.1 percent for men with a BMI of 25 to 30 and 12.2 percent for men with BMI of 30 or more.