Association of diet-induced hyperinsulinemia with accelerated growth of prostate cancer (LNCaP) xenografts. J Natl Cancer Inst 2007;99:1793–1800

jnci.oxfordjournals.org JNCI | Articles 1793 Obesity is associated with increased cancer mortality ( 1), and its increasing prevalence ( 2) may hinder progress in cancer control. Recent studies focusing on prostate cancer have shown that obesity is associated with only a small increase in the risk of this disease but that it is an important adverse prognostic factor ( 3 – 11). The mecha-nisms that link obesity to prostate cancer prognosis are incom-pletely characterized. It is possible that the association of obesity with prostate cancer prognosis is mediated by adipokines (signaling molecules produced by adipocytes) and that the amount of adipose tissue is, therefore, of key importance ( 12). However, it has also been suggested that it is the hormonal profile associated with excess energy intake over expenditure that mediates the effects of obesity on prostate cancer prognosis ( 13 – 16) and that obesity is associated with prostate cancer prognosis because it is surrogate for exces