A Healthy Lifestyle in Men at Increased Genetic Risk for Prostate Cancer

A study in European Urology examined whether men at an increased genetic risk of prostate cancer can offset their risk of disease or disease progression by adhering to a healthy lifestyle. Findings suggest that a genetic predisposition for prostate cancer is not deterministic for a poor cancer outcome. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle may provide a way to offset the genetic risk of lethal prostate cancer.

Study prospectively followed 12 411 genotyped men in the Health Professionals and the Physicians Health Study. Genetic risk of prostate cancer was quantified using a polygenic risk score (PRS). A healthy lifestyle with weight, vigorous physical activity, not smoking, and a healthy diet.

A total of 3005 overall prostate cancer and 435 lethal prostate cancer events were observed. The polygenic risk score enabled risk stratification not only for overall prostate cancer, but also for lethal disease with a four-fold difference between men in the highest and lowest quartiles 4.32. Among men in the highest PRS quartile, adhering to a healthy lifestyle was associated with a decreased rate of lethal prostate cancer 0.55, compared with having an unhealthy lifestyle, translating to a lifetime risk of 1.6% among the healthy and 5.3% among the unhealthy. Adhering to a healthy lifestyle was not associated with a decreased risk of overall prostate cancer.

These findings suggest that a genetic predisposition for prostate cancer is not deterministic for a poor cancer outcome. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle may provide a way to offset the genetic risk of lethal prostate cancer concluded the authors.