Obesity and prostate cancer are entities of postmodern medicine. Whereas the modern era ushered in immunizations, aseptic technique, antibiotics and access to clean water, the postmodern era is denned by excess and consumption. Excessive caloric consumption (obesity), excessive antibiotic use and perhaps even excessive screening practices (prostate cancer) are a major part of the landscape of contemporary medicine. The prevalence of obesity has certainly increased substantially in the Western world and is nothing short of an epidemic. With the advent of prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing the incidence of prostate cancer in the United States has climbed steadily and it continues to be the second most lethal malignancy in men. A man in the United States has a 1 in 8 chance of prostate cancer developing and a greater than 70% likelihood of being considered overweight or obese (based on body mass index [BMI]). Because of the tremendous prevalence of both disease entities there has been a growing body of literature on their relationship, and a PubMed~R search of both key words will now display 458 articles. In attempting to define the relationship between prostate cancer and obesity several seminal questions must be addressed.
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