Central Adiposity and Prostate Cancer in a Black Population

The relationship between central adiposity and prostate cancer remains unclear. This report includes 963 newly diagnosed cases of histologically confirmed prostate cancer and 941 randomly selected age-matched controls ascertained from the population-based Prostate Cancer in a Black Population study conducted between July 2002 and January 2011 in Barbados, West Indies. Trained nurse interviewers obtained data on height, weight, waist and hip circumferences, family and medical history, and lifestyle factors. ORs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to assess associations between anthropometric measures and prostate cancer. A two-fold increased risk of prostate cancer was found among men in the highest quartile of waist-hip ratio compared with those in the lowest quartile (OR = 2.11, 95% CI, 1.54-2.88). Similarly, men with the largest waist circumferences had an OR of 1.84 (95% CI, 1.19-2.85) compared with those with the smallest waist sizes. These results suggest that measures of central rather than global adiposity may be more predictive of prostate cancer, especially in westernized African populations, where patterns of visceral fat distribution are different than other groups. The findings highlight the need to further elucidate the mechanisms underlying the relationship between central adiposity and prostate cancer in populations of predominantly African descent.