Association of dyslipidemia and prostate cancer in African American men

Background: Dyslipidemia is linked to prostate cancer (PCa) risk but has not been evaluated in African Americans (AAs). We evaluated the association of dyslipidemia [elevated total cholesterol, triglycerides, and/or low density lipoproteins (LDL)] and odds of PCa. Methods: From 2000 – 2004, 250 AA men, age 40-79 years were recruited from an urban academic urology clinic. In this case-control study, there were 141 incident PCa cases and 109 healthy controls. Results: Median age was 60.0y/o in controls and 69.0y/o for cases (p < 0.001). Median Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) is 2.0ng/ml in controls vs. 7.4ng/ml in cases (p = 0.04). PCa family history was reported in 14.9% of controls and 19.2% of cases (p = 0.41). Overall, 31.2% of controls were obese versus 25.5% of cases (p = 0.37). Median total cholesterol was 195.3mg/dL in controls and 191.1mg/dL in cases (p = 0.42). There were similar rates of elevated LDL and total cholesterol (both p > 0.30), while elevated triglycerides occurred in 16.5% of controls and 25.5% of cases (p = 0.09). Dyslipidemia was diagnosed in 23.3% of controls and 35.5% of cases (p = 0.028). On binary logistic regression for PCa status, there was a significant interaction between obesity and dyslipidemia (OR 6.21, p = 0.04) after adjusting for age, PSA, PCa family history and smoking. There were no associations found between serum lipids and tumor grade (i.e. Gleason > 6 or > 7). Conclusions: Dyslipidemia significantly interacts with obesity and is associated with increased odds of PCa.