By Jimmy Downs

Thursday Oct 18, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Visceral obesity may increase risk of developing prostate cancer, according to a study in Obesity - a research journal.

Obeisty or body fat distribution measured by computed tomography or CT has not been examined for its association with prostate cancer.

The current study led by Pedro Von Hafe at Department of Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina do Porto in Porto, Portugal and colleagues showed that men with higher visceral fat were 4.6 times as likely to develop prostate cancer as those with lower visceral fat.

The study also found that a higher ratio of visceral to subcutaneous fat areas was associated with a 130 percent increased risk for prostate cancer, compared with those who had a lower ratio.

For the study, 63 prostate cancer patients and 63 age-matched healthy community controls were examined for body fat distribution.  A CT scan was performed on all participants to estimate the level of the fourth lumbar vertebra.

Prostate cancer patients had higher mean total abdominal fat area and particularly a higher mean visceral fat area, compared to the controls, 509 versus 334 cm2, and 325 versus 177 cm2, respectively.  

Also the ratio of visceral to subcutaneous fat area was higher in prostate  cancer patients than the controls.

The researchers concluded "These results suggest a role for visceral obesity, quantified by CT, as a risk factor for prostate cancer. The action of the adipocytokines secreted by visceral fat cells, steroid hormone disturbances, and increased levels of insulin or other hormones noted in visceral obesity may explain this association."

Prostate cancer is expected to be diagnosed in more than 230,000 men each year in the United States and the disease kills about 40,000 men annually in the U.S., according to the National Cancer Institute.