Korean J Urol.  2007 Nov;48(11):1121-1124. 10.4111/kju.2007.48.11.1121.

The Association of Body Mass Index and Prostate-Specific Antigen

• Sohn JC
• Lim MS
• Chang HS
• Park CH
• Kim CI

• KMID: 1997087
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4111/kju.2007.48.11.1121

Abstract

PURPOSE: Recent studies have reported the association of obesity and advanced stage prostate cancer. We researched the association between body mass index(BMI), which is widely used to diagnose obesity, and the prostate-specific antigen(PSA) screening test for prostate cancer. METERIALS AND METHODS: The authors examined the association between BMI and PSA for 26,193 men who visited the health promotion center at our medical center from July 1998 to June 2004. The BMI(weight in kg/height in m2) was calculated from the measured height and weight and this was categorized as follows: BMI<18.5(underweight), BMI 18.5-23.0(normal weight), BMI 23.0-27.5(overweight), BMI>27.5(obesity). We measured the mean PSA value of each BMI category. After adjust for age, we evaluated the PSA according to BMI by using error bars and 95% confidence intervals.
RESULTS
The patients' age distribution was from 20 to 90 years old and their mean age was 46.1. The mean PSA value increased in a linear fashion with an increase in the age category(p<0.001), while it decreased in a linear fashion with an increase in the BMI category(p<0.001). After adjusting for age, the mean PSA value also decreased in a linear fashion with an increase in the BMI category(p<0.001).
CONCLUSIONS
Men with an elevated BMI tend to have a lower value of PSA and to be misdiagnosed with prostate cancer. The PSA value should considered in relation to age and the BMI for the early detection of prostate cancer.

Keyword

Prostate-specific antigen; Body mass index

MeSH Terms

Age Distribution
Aged, 80 and over
Body Mass Index*
Health Promotion
Humans
Male
Mass Screening
Obesity
Prostate-Specific Antigen*
Prostatic Neoplasms
Prostate-Specific Antigen

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Scatter plot of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (ng/ml) versus body mass index (BMI) (kg/m2). 2.3% negative correlation is noted at the regression line (r=-0.023, p<0.001).

• 

  Fig. 2 Error bar of the mean prostate-specific antigen (PSA) according to the body mass index (BMI) category. Error bars show 95% confidence intervals of the mean. BMI Category 1: <18.4kg/m2 (underweight), Category 2: 18.5-22.9kg/m2 (normal), Category 3: 23.0-27.4kg/m2 (overweight), Category 4: ≥27.5 (obesity).

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