Changes in blood glucose and cholesterol levels due to androgen deprivation therapy in men with non-metastatic prostate cancer

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effects of androgen deprivation therapy(ADT) on blood glucose and cholesterol over 12 months in aprospective matched cohort study.Methods: English-speaking patients with non-metastatic prostatecancer attending the Princess Margaret Hospital were invited toparticipate in this study. Patients were divided into two cohorts:ADT users and controls. Androgen deprivation therapy users werefrequency matched to controls on age, education and body massindex (BMI). The study consisted of two visits. Sociodemographicand clinical information, medication use, physical fitness, heightand weight were collected before initiation of ADT. Twelve monthslater, fasting morning blood work was obtained to measure plasmaglucose, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-densitylipoprotein (LDL) and triglycerides. Statistical analyses includedunivariate and multivariable linear regression.Results: We recruited 75 patients (mean age 68.9), 38 of whomwere undergoing ADT. Twelve patients with prior diabetes and 29patients taking cholesterol-lowering medication at baseline wereexcluded from the glucose and cholesterol analysis, respectively.In adjusted analyses, ADT users had a significantly higher glucoselevel compared to controls (5.88 vs. 5.52 mmol/L, p = 0.024).Overall, ADT users had higher levels of total cholesterol, HDL,LDL, and triglycerides than controls, although none of the differencesreached statistical significance.Conclusion: One year of ADT use is associated with elevated fastingglucose levels and may increase all lipid fractions in men withprostate cancer.