‘To be a theme in our research, we can get to the bottom of something,’ said Freedland. ‘The study supports a growing number of publications that show that obese men with prostate cancer do worse. Our next step is to understand why.’An estimated six American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society, in addition, one in three American men are obese.

Keto said that further studies are needed to determine why men and women out heavy worse than men of normal weight, even when treated similarly. A surveillance zone may be the determination of ADT.

Freedland said, knowing that men are heavier at higher risk of poor performance could lead to better interventions. She said the Duke group has launched a new process to test the effects of diet and exercise to overweight and obese men with prostate cancer treatment including hormonal therapy.

Because their cancer had returned, the men were also subjected to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The chemical inhibits the production of the male hormone testosterone that feeds prostate tumors.

In addition, overweight men are more of a risk three times higher in the spread of bone cancer than men of normal weight, while obese men have increased five times the risk of metastasis.

‘If obesity is bad for prostate cancer, perhaps we should be more aggressive in our treatment,’ he said. ‘Ultimately, we aim to find the reason, that can lead to better treatments for these men.’

The men’s study group who were overweight or obese have a risk three times higher in cancer progression than men of normal weight, despite receiving the same treatment.

Even if treated with hormonal therapy to suppress tumor growth, obese men are at high risk of worsening, scientists at Duke University Medical Center have discovered.

The research, reported Sunday at the American Urological Association Annual Meeting (May 15, 2011), the link between progress and prostate cancer, which has attracted research in recent years the incidence of these conditions remains high and often overlap.

In addition to Ketu, and Freedland, study authors include William J. Aronson, MD, Martha K. Terris, MD, Joseph C. Presti, MD, Christopher J. Amling, MD

‘In recent decades there has been an increase in the prevalence of obesity in the United States and Europe, and a high rate of prostate cancer is the second most lethal for men,’ said Christopher J. Keto, MD, urologic researcher at Duke University Medical Center and lead author of the study.