A new U.S. Study has found that obese men are more likely to die of prostate cancer within five years of diagnosis than those who are fit. The risk is nearly twice higher for those who are overweight. The findings were published in the latest online edition of Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society (ACS).

The study was led by Dr. Jason Efstathiou from Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and specifically found that a greater body mass index (BMI) at the time of cancer diagnosis was an independent risk factor for prostate cancer-related death. Compared to men with normal BMI (less than 25), men with BMI between 25 and 30 were more than 1.5 times more likely to die from the disease. Further, men with a BMI of more than 30 were 1.6 times more likely to die from their disease compared to men with a BMI less than 25.

"Further studies are warranted to evaluate the mechanisms for this increased cancer-specific mortality among overweight and obese men and to assess the impact of BMI on survival following other management strategies and in clinically localized disease," Dr. Jason Efstathiou.

"Whether weight loss after prostate cancer diagnosis alters disease course remains to be determined."

The study is the result of reports on 788 patients who were followed upon for eight years. This is the first to use data gathered from a large randomized prospective treatment study with long-term follow-up to investigate this relationship.

The American Cancer Society (ACS) reports that over 218,000 American men are expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer and over 27,000 will die from the disease this year. Prostate cancer is least common in South and East Asia, more common in Europe, and most common in the United States. Also, prostate cancer is least common among Asian men and most common among black men, while white men are somewhat in the middle of the two risk groups.