Genetic Counseling for Prostate Cancer May Be an Opportunity to Promote Healthy Lifestyle Approaches

Genetic counseling and genetic testing for prostate cancer may be excellent opportunities to promote healthy lifestyle approaches, according to study results presented at the 2020 Genitourinary Cancers Symposium, held in San Francisco, California. Researchers reported that genetic counseling and testing are rapidly growing in popularity, and these may be ideal settings to promote specific healthy lifestyle changes that could affect survivorship.

Researchers asked 158 men with and 96 men at risk for prostate cancer who were enrolled in the Genetic Evaluation of Men Study to complete a structured lifestyle questionnaire to assess frequency of physical activity over 12 months. In terms of intensity of aerobic activity and strength-based activities, the researchers found men with prostate cancer were less adherent to moderate (P =.02) and vigorous (P =.01) physical activity than were men without prostate cancer. Men who reported engaging in strength-based physical activity overall met the recommended guideline of exercising 2-3 days per week (P <.01).

In this cohort, 84% of the men were overweight or obese, suggesting that promoting more physical activity could be highly beneficial. The researchers found that lower body mass index (BMI; P =.05) and higher education (P <.01) were significant predictors of engaging in vigorous physical activity, whereas older age (P =.02) and higher education (P <.01) were significant predictors of engaging in strength-based physical activity.  In this study, higher education (P =.02) predicted engaging in light and moderate physical activity (P <.05).

Age, BMI, and education may be important predictors of physical activity uptake and could be considered in the development of intervention programs. “[Genetic counseling] encounters represent ‘teachable moments’ to promote healthy lifestyle among men, which may have additional benefit for survivorship and improved treatment experience,” write the authors.

Disclosure: Multiple authors declared affiliations with industry. Please refer to the original abstract for a full list of disclosures.

Reference

Giri VN, Milliron BJ, Sinclair E, et al. Physical activity assessment among men undergoing genetic counseling for inherited prostate cancer: a teachable moment. J Clin Oncol. 2020;38(suppl 6):abstr 360.