While it can be serious, a diagnosis of prostate cancer isn’t a death sentence and 3 million men in the U.S. who have been diagnosed are still alive today. Still, the therapy may involve surgery including castration, radiation therapy, and hormonal castration — none of which sound appealing.
Prostate cancer is the most heritable cancer. There is a need to identify possible modifiable factors for men at an increased risk of prostate cancer due to genetic factors.
New Data
A brand new research study followed 12,411 men in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study (1993-2019) and the Physicians’ Health Study (1983-2010). Genetic risk of prostate cancer was quantified using a polygenic risk score. A healthy lifestyle was defined by healthy weight, vigorous physical activity, not smoking, and a healthy diet. The health score included six components (one point each): body mass index <30 kg/m2, high vigorous physical activity, never smoker or having quit ≥10 yr ago, high intake of tomato-based products, high intake of fatty fish, and low intake of processed meat
Results
During 27 yr of follow-up, 3005 overall prostate cancer and 435 lethal prostate cancer events were observed. Among men in the highest polygenic risk score for prostate cancer, adhering to a healthy lifestyle was associated with a decreased rate of lethal prostate cancer by almost 50% compared with having an unhealthy lifestyle. This translated to a lifetime risk of lethal prostate cancer of1.6% among the healthy and 5.3% among the unhealthy members of the study. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle was not associated with a decreased risk of overall prostate cancer.
Conclusions
Maintaining a healthy lifestyle may provide a way to offset the genetic risk of lethal prostate cancer. We conclude that men at a high genetic risk of prostate cancer may benefit from adhering to a healthy lifestyle although all men should follow guidelines for healthy lifestyle choices for other reasons like cardiovascular disease.
