Prevalence of Hypertension among Prostate Cancer Patients: A Hospital Based Study

Background: Prostate cancer is a global health problem affecting men in their advancing years. Both prostate and hypertension incidence increases with age. Human and animal studies have attempted to explain an association between the two disease entities. The interplay of androgen activity has been strongly suggested. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of hypertension among prostate cancer patients. Materials and methods: One hundred and nineteen (119) patients with prostate cancer were studied. Information retrieved from their case notes included biodata, clinical, laboratory, imaging and prostate biopsy results. Hypertensive men were selected based on preceding history of hypertension or absence of such history for non-hypertensives. Results: mean age of patients was 68.68±8.38 years ranging from 48 to 91 years. Non–hypertensives were slightly older than hypertensive men (Table 1). Mean Gleason score was 7.97±1.15 and mean prostate specific antigen (PSA) was 56.20±37.30 ng/ml. Most men were in their 8th decade of life (table 2i).The prevalence of hypertension was 43.7%. Most of them had prostate specific antigen in excess of 10.0ng/ml and Gleason score of 9. Hypertensive men were also associated with slightly higher Gleason score and prostate specific antigen values. Conclusion: Evaluation of hypertensive men should include a full urological assessment to diagnose those at increased risk of prostate cancer bearing in mind documented high prevalences associated with both disease conditions.