Abstract 625: Association between obesity and prostate cancer disease risk and mortality among African American men

Abstract

Abstract Prostate cancer (PCa) is a major cause of cancer death in U.S. men. Age-adjusted mortality rates for men of African ancestry (40.8 per 100,000) are more than twice that of men of European ancestry (18.2 per 100,000). Men of African ancestry are more likely to have advanced stage cancer at diagnosis and lower prostate cancer survival rates relative to men of European ancestry of similar age and stage at diagnosis. Risk factors that may explain this survival disparity remain poorly understood. Obesity, a major risk factor for cancer development, aggressiveness and progression, disproportionately affects US men of African ancestry. Age-adjusted prevalence of obesity are higher among men of African ancestry (38.0%) compared to men of European ancestry (34.7%). While it has been previously suggested that obesity may worsen disease-related outcomes among prostate cancer patients, the relationship of obesity and prostate cancer mortality remains unclear, with studies showing mixed or null results in men of African ancestry. Less is known about the underlying biological mechanisms that may contribute to the racial differences observed in the link between obesity and prostate cancer. We previously reported an obesity paradox among African-American men in the NCI-Maryland Prostate Cancer-Case Control Study, with overweight and obese men having a lower risk of being diagnosed with the disease. Here, using Cox proportional hazard regression modeling, we estimated the risk of a PCa mortality for the 976 cases in the study. Our primary analysis suggests an obesity paradox, where obesity may protect against disease mortality among the African-American men. In subsequent analyses, we will examine the role of immune and inflammation markers in mediating or moderating the observed relationship of obesity with PCa in these men. Citation Format: Margaret Saira Pichardo, Tsion Minas, Wei Tang, Tiffany H. Dorsey, Stefan Ambs. Association between obesity and prostate cancer disease risk and mortality among African American men [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2019; 2019 Mar 29-Apr 3; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 625.