Bone scans might help identify men at high risk for aggressive prostate tumors as they age, researchers said.
Starting at about age 70, men in a long-term prospective cohort study who were diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancers tended to have relatively high levels of bone mineral content when measured up to 35 years earlier, reported Stacy Loeb, MD, of Johns Hopkins University, and colleagues.
The findings, from a longitudinal study of 519 men that began in 1958, were reported in the July issue of the British Journal of Urology International. "Although the biology underlying this association requires additional study, these findings suggest that host factors in the bony milieu may be related to prostate cancer development and the progression to advanced disease," Loeb and colleagues wrote.
They noted that the frequency of bone metastases in patients with prostate cancer suggested some biological association between these tumors and bone. The researchers also cited a previous study suggesting a link between higher bone mineral density and prostate cancer incidence, although the connection seemed weak.
In the current study, Loeb and colleagues looked at data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, in which participants have undergone comprehensive medical exams about every two years since 1958.
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