Prostatic levels of fatty acids and the histopathology of localized prostate cancer

Purpose: The consumption of various fatty acids has been associated with ad vanced stage and fatal prostate cancer. While numerous mechanisms have been postulated, to our knowledge there physiological data linking exposure and prognosis in humans are lacking. We examined prostatic levels of individua l fatty acids in relation to the prevalence of histopathological characteri stics associated with invasiveness and the risk of progression in 49 men un dergoing radical prostatectomy for localized prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: Fatty acids were measured using capillary gas chroma tography in fresh nonmalignant prostate tissue collected at surgery. Marker s of invasiveness and increased risk of progression (Gleason sum 7 or great er, perineural invasion, anatomical or surgical margin involvement, extraca psular extension, seminal vesical involvement and stage T3 tumor) were eval uated separately. Each marker was dichotomized into a yes (case) and no (co ntrol) level with patients grouped accordingly. Mean concentrations were co mpared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Results: The percent of total prostatic poly-unsaturated fat and polyunsatu rated-to-saturated fat ratios were significantly lower in the presence of p erineural invasion, seminal vesical involvement and stage T3 tumor (p = 0.0 2 to 0.049). alpha -Linolenic acid was significantly lower when tumor exten ded to an anatomical or surgical margin (p = 0.008). The omega -3 and omega -3-to-omega -6 fatty acid ratios were 1.5 to 3.3-fold lower in cases than in controls, reaching borderline significance in nearly all comparisons (p = 0.052 to 0.097). Saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids were not assoc iated with the traits examined. Conclusions: These data suggest that polyunsaturated fatty acids and perhap s essential fatty acids in particular help to regulate prostate carcinogene sis in humans.