BMI May Aid Mortality Predictions After Radical Prostatectomy

ORLANDO—Body mass index (BMI) may be useful in identifying patients at increased risk for competing mortality following radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer (PCa), according to a study presented at the American Urological Association 2014 annual meeting.

In a study of 2,131 PCa patients, those with a BMI of 30 kg/m² or higher (obese) had a significantly greater 10-year overall mortality rate compared with men with a lower BMI (19.6% vs. 13.6%). Obese patients also had significantly higher 10-year rates of death from non-cancer causes (8.5% vs. 5.2%) and from competing causes overall (15.1% vs. 9.4%).

The researchers also observed a non-significant trend toward increased mortality from second cancers among obese patients. Obese and non-obese patients did not differ significantly with respect to 10-year PCa-specific mortality (4.5% vs. 4.2%).