Elevated insulin and insulin resistance are associated with the advanced pathological stage of prostate cancer in Korean population.

The study was designed to investigate the effect of serum glucose, insulin and insulin resistance on the risk of prostate cancer (CaP) and on the clinicopathological characteristics in Korean men. Subjects were retrospectively recruited from 166 CaP patients underwent radical prostatectomy and 166 age-matched benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) patients. The serum was taken on the morning of the day of operation and insulin resistance was assessed by homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR). Men in highest tertile of insulin was associated with 55% reduced odds of CaP than those with the lowest tertile (OR = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.23-0.89, P = 0.022). The patients in highest tertile of insulin had a more than 5.6 fold risk of locally advanced stage than those in the lowest tertile (OR = 5.62, 95% CI = 1.88-16.83, P = 0.002). Moreover, the patients in the highest tertile HOMA-IR group was associated with an increased risk of locally advanced stage than the lowest tertile group (OR = 3.10, 95% CI = 1.07-8.99, P = 0.037). These results suggest that elevated insulin and insulin resistance are associated with the advanced pathological stage of prostate cancer in Korean patients.