Association between late-onset hypogonadism syndrome plus metabolic syndrome and prostate cancer and its aggressiveness

Abstract Objective To assess the relationship between prostate cancer (PC) and the presence of metabolic syndrome and late-onset hypogonadism (LOH) syndrome. Material and method A retrospective study was conducted on 686 patients who underwent prostate biopsy. We analyzed the demographic variables, clinical data and biopsy results. To diagnose metabolic syndrome, we employed the criteria of the American Heart Association. For the diagnosis of LOH syndrome, we employed the Androgen Deficiency in the Aging Male questionnaire and testosterone levels (TT). We evaluated the relationship between free testosterone (FT) and bioavailable testosterone (BT) on one hand and PC and its aggressiveness on the other, as well as the usefulness of the TT to prostate specific antigen (TT/PSA) ratio in the PC diagnosis. Results The patient's median age was 65 years. Metabolic syndrome is not associated with PC (39.4% vs. 35%; p  = 0.1) but is associated with a PC Gleason score > 7 (50.4% vs. 29.44%; p  = 0.002). LOH, low FT and low BT are associated with an increased presence of PC (51% vs. 35%, p  = 0.02; 44.86% vs. 33.33%, p  = 0.03; and 46.46% vs. 33.08%, p  = 0.01, respectively) and with an increased probability of a PC Gleason score > 7 (61.54% vs. 37.5%, p  = 0.02; 54.17% vs. 34.12%, p  = 0.02; 54.35% vs. 34.48%, p  = 0.02, respectively). Additionally, the median TT/PSA ratio was significantly lower in patients with positive biopsies ( p  = 0.022). Conclusions Metabolic syndrome was not associated with the probability of having PC but was associated with a PC Gleason score > 7. Moreover, LOH syndrome had a higher percentage of PC and a greater presence of PC Gleason score > 7, as did low levels of FT and low levels of BT.