Visceral Obesity Assessment by MRI and Prostate Cancer Risk

The incidence of prostate cancer has gradually increased with obesity in Korean males. We aimed to quantify visceral fat content measured by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as a risk factor of prostate cancer. This case-control study that included 100 patients (mean age, 66.1 ± 7.1 years) newly diagnosed with prostate cancer and 100 healthy males (mean age, 63.4 ± 4.6 years) without cancer. All subjects underwent 3.0 Tesla MRI. Prostate cancer patients had a significantly higher abdominal fat ratio (p 0.04) and regression for prevalence (β = 0.52, p 0.01), other than obesity factors (waist circumference and body mass index), than the controls. In prostate cancer patients, a higher abdominal fat ratio was associated with a higher Gleason score level using odds ratios but excluding other obesity factors. Abdominal fat ratio is a risk factor of prostate cancer and clinical stage.