Anogenital distance, a biomarker of fetal androgen exposure and the risk of prostate cancer: A case-control study
Florencio Manuel Marín-Martínez, Julian J Arense-Gonzalo, Miriam Artes Artes, Emny Rochell Bobadilla Romero, Víctor Javier García Porcel, Pablo Alcon Cerro, Mabel Coromoto Suárez-Pineda, Pablo Luis Guzmán Martínez- Valls, Jaime Mendiola- General Medicine
Anogenital distance (AGD) is a biomarker and a sexual dimorphism measure that can be modulated by hormonal factors, like anti-androgens, responding to gestational exposure along fetal period. There seems to be a prenatal window period in which specific environmental exposures can result in increased risk of suffer hormone-dependent neoplasms, like prostate cancer (PCa).
Objective:
Evaluate the association between AGD and the risk of PCa.
Methods:
Incident case-control study, conducted on 153 patients. All patients underwent prostate biopsy for abnormal digital rectal exam and/or prostate antigen elevation. Two variants of AGD [anus to scrotum base (AGDas) and anus to dorsal insertion of penis (AGDap) were measured. Student’s t-test was used to analyze continuous variables and chi-square for discrete variables. Differences in AGD (raw and adjusted) measures between cases and controls were assessed using the ANCOVA test.
Results:
There is significant association between the diagnose of PCa and both AGD, patients diagnosed with PCa had both AGD measures shortened, in the crude and the full adjusted models.
Conclusions:
This research suggests that the same gestational environmental exposures, could represent a weak androgen signaling and may also have an increased risk of prostate cancer.