Body mass index as a classifier to predict biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy in patients with lower prostate-specific antigen levels

Prostate cancer, one of the most common malignant tumors among men, is closely associated with obesity and, thus far, several studies have suggested the association between obesity and aggressive pathological characteristics in the United States. However, the effect of obesity on prostate cancer mortality is controversial, and it remains unclear whether obesity contributes to the aggressiveness of prostate cancer in Asian patients. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between body mass index (BMI) and the clinicopathological characteristics of prostate cancer in 2,003 Japanese patients who underwent radical prostatectomy. There was a significant association between higher BMI and higher Gleason score (GS). The multivariate analysis also revealed that BMI was an independent indicator for GS ≥8 at surgery. Moreover, among patients with lower prostate-specific antigen levels, biochemical recurrence-free survival was significantly worse in those with higher BMI. These results suggest that BMI may be a classifier for predicting adverse pathological findings and biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy in Japanese patients.