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Hormonal profile of diabetic men and the potential link to prostate cancer

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Abstract

Objective

Previous studies suggest men with diabetes may be at reduced risk for prostate cancer as compared to men without diabetes. To investigate potential biological mechanisms, hormonal profiles of diabetic men and non-diabetic controls were compared.

Methods

In the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, plasma levels of C-peptide, testosterone, sex-hormone binding globulin, insulin-like growth factor-1, and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 were determined in 171 diabetic men and 3,001 non-diabetic controls. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted and least square means were calculated for hormones of interest.

Results

Plasma levels of several hormones either ≤1, 1.1–6, 6.1–14.9, or ≥15 years after diagnosis with diabetes were examined. As time since diabetes diagnosis increased, plasma levels of C-peptide and IGFBP-3 significantly decreased (p for trend: C-peptide =.05, IGFBP-3 =.03). While testosterone and SHBG levels both significantly increased with increasing time since diabetes diagnosis (p for trend: testosterone =.02, SHBG =.002), the ratio of testosterone to SHBG decreased, suggesting a reduction in bioavailable testosterone. Plasma IGF-1 levels were lower in diabetics than non-diabetics, but no significant time trend was noted.

Conclusion

This study of hormonal profiles of diabetic versus non-diabetic men identified changes in diabetic men that may be consistent with reduced prostate cancer risk.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grant CA55075 from the National Cancer Institute and W81XWH-06-1-0188 from the Department of Defense. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official view of NCI or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Jocelyn S. Kasper, Yan Liu & Edward Giovannucci

  2. Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Jocelyn S. Kasper & Edward Giovannucci

  3. Department of Medicine and Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada

    Michael N. Pollak

  4. Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Nader Rifai

  5. Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Nader Rifai

  6. Channing Laboratory, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Edward Giovannucci

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  1. Jocelyn S. Kasper
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  2. Yan Liu
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  5. Edward Giovannucci
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Correspondence to Edward Giovannucci.

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Kasper, J.S., Liu, Y., Pollak, M.N. et al. Hormonal profile of diabetic men and the potential link to prostate cancer. Cancer Causes Control 19, 703–710 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9133-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9133-x

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