Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity Independently Linked to Breast Cancer

MONDAY, May 13, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Metabolic syndrome (MetS) and obesity have independent and distinct associations with breast cancer subtypes and mortality, according to a study published online May 13 in Cancer.

Rowan T. Chlebowski, M.D., Ph.D., from The Lundquist Institute in Torrance, California, and colleagues examined the associations of MetS and obesity with postmenopausal breast cancer. The study population included 63,330 postmenopausal women without prior breast cancer and with normal mammogram, who had an entry MetS score (0, 1 to 2, 3 to 4), which included high waist circumference, high blood pressure, high-cholesterol history, and diabetes history.

The researchers found that after adjustment for body mass index, a higher MetS score was associated with more poor-prognosis, estrogen receptor (ER)-positive, progesterone receptor (PR)-negative cancers after more than 20 years of follow-up (hazard ratio, 1.47 for 3 to 4 versus 0), with increased breast cancer mortality and more deaths after breast cancer (hazard ratios, 1.44 and 1.53 for score of 3 to 4 versus 0). In analyses adjusted for MetS score, obesity status was associated with more good-prognosis ER-positive, PR-positive cancers and with a higher incidence of breast cancer. There was an increase in deaths seen after breast cancer among overweight and obese women, but breast cancer mortality was only significantly higher in women with grade 2 to 3 obesity.

"Postmenopausal women with higher MetS scores are a previously unrecognized population at higher breast cancer mortality risk," Chlebowski said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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