Lower risk of prostate cancer in patients with sedentary occupations presenting for a prostate biopsy: Analysis of a Veterans Affairs cohort.
257 Background: Sedentary behavior has been associated with increased serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels. It is currently unknown whether this correlates with an increased risk of underlying prostate cancer (PCa). Our objective was to determine whether patients with sedentary occupations presenting for a prostate biopsy were at increased risk of PCa diagnosis. Methods: A prospectively collected registry of patients undergoing a prostate biopsy between July 1995 and June 2016 at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Augusta, GA was utilized. The occupation was classified as sedentary if it was associated with prolonged periods of sitting (i.e. >50% work hours). This was determined via patient reported history at time of biopsy. The associations between a sedentary lifestyle and risk of a positive prostate biopsy, high grade cancer (i.e. Gleason score 8 or higher), and high volume cancer (i.e. at least 50% of total cores were positive) were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression analyses, controlling for age, race, body mass index, PSA level, free PSA ratio, clinical stage, prostate volume, and family history of prostate cancer. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. All statistical analyses were performed using R version 3.6.1. Results: Our cohort included 1,914 patients. 271 (14.2%) patients had sedentary jobs. Median patient age was 61.0 years (Interquartile range [IQR] 57.0 – 66.0). Median PSA at time of biopsy was 5.7 ng/ml (IQR 4.4 – 8.2). Of the 1,914 initial biopsies performed, 974 (50.9%) were positive for malignancy. Of patients diagnosed with PCa, 229 (23.5%) had high-grade disease and 316 (32.4%) had high volume disease. On multivariable analysis, patients with a sedentary job had a significantly decreased risk of PCa diagnosis (Odds ratio [OR] 0.43, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.18-1.03, p= 0.058), but no difference in odds of high grade (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.089-2.99, p= 0.60) or high volume disease (OR 1.07, 95% CI 0.93-1.21, p= 0.89). Conclusions: Patients with sedentary occupations presenting for a prostate biopsy are at a lower apparent risk for a positive prostate biopsy. These results suggest that the serum PSA levels in such patients may be artificially elevated secondary to increased recumbence with no corresponding increase in risk of malignancy. [Table: see text]