In a nutshell
The authors determined the relationship between hypertriglyceridemia (high levels of a specific fat in the blood) and biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer patients following prostate surgery.
Some background
Prostate surgery is a common treatment for prostate cancer involving surgical removal of the prostate gland. Biochemical recurrence can occur in some patients after treatment. This is an increase in prostate specific antigen levels (PSA – protein elevated in the blood when prostate cancer is present) indicating that the cancer has returned. Some studies suggest that hypertriglyceridemia can be used to predict biochemical recurrence before surgery.
Methods & findings
The aim of this study was to determine whether high fat levels in the blood could be used as a predictor for biochemical recurrence before prostate surgery.
663 patients were analyzed in this study. All underwent prostate surgery. The median (mid-point) follow-up time was 21 months. High fat levels in the blood was defined as fat levels in the blood above 200 mg/dL.
10% of patients showed signs of biochemical recurrence (BCR) during follow-up. Patients who did not have BCR had higher fat levels in their blood. Patients with high fat levels in the blood were significantly more likely to achieve BCR-free survival (patients who did not experience BCR after treatment). High fat levels in the blood, tumor stage and Gleason scores (scoring system that compares the differences between healthy cells and cancer cells) were identified as significant BCR predictors.
The bottom line
The authors concluded that patients with hypertriglyceridemia before surgery were less likely to experience biochemical recurrence after surgery.
The fine print
Further studies are needed to validate results presented.
Published By :
PLOS ONE
Date :
Mar 24, 2015
