Prostate Can Men: The Effect of Body Habitus and Physical Activity

摘要

Prostate cancer kills more Puerto Rican men than the combined cancer mortality rates of the lung, trachea and bronchus. The most extensively studied risk factors for prostate cancer include age, race/ethnicity, family history, diet, androgen metabolism, alcohol consumption, obesity, physical activity and smoking. Of these, age, race and family history are well documented but poorly understood risk factors. The fact that prostate cancer rates change in migrant populations and vary dramatically in ethnically similar populations residing in different geographic locations strongly suggest that environmental factors can greatly influence the risk of this cancer. The purpose of this investigation is therefore, to study the relationship of physical activity and body habitus with prostate cancer mortality among Puerto Rican men. This study uses an observational longitudinal design with a random sample of 9,824 Puerto Rican men aged 35-79 years at baseline (1964) who were part of the Puerto Rico Heart Health Program (PRHHP). The Puerto Rico Heart Health Program provides a unique epidemiological cohort of men who took part in multiple examinations including extensive information on lifestyle, diet, body composition, exercise, and smoking habits. Survival analyses will be used to study the relationship between prostate cancer mortality and physical inactivity and obesity with approximately 35 years of follow up data. This research is to generate new knowledge of how sedentary lifestyles or excess body weight are related to prostate cancer mortality, and to increase our knowledge of prostate cancer in a population where prostate cancer is the number one killer. Additionally, once prostate cancer mortality is identified, other exposures such as diet, smoking and alcohol intake can also be studied.