Jan 31, 2006 - 2.3â19.8) compared with that among women without metabolic syn- drome and testosterone ..... Allen K, Cox CE. Android obesity at diagnosis.
Int. J. Cancer: 119, 236–238 (2006) ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
SHORT REPORT Metabolic syndrome as a prognostic factor for breast cancer recurrences Patrizia Pasanisi1*, Franco Berrino1, Michela De Petris1, Elisabetta Venturelli1, Antonio Mastroianni2 and Salvatore Panico3 1 Department of Preventive and Predictive Medicine, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milano, Italy 2 Unit of Laboratory Medicine, Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milano, Italy 3 Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Universita` ‘‘Federico II’’, Napoli, Italy Several studies have shown that hormonal, metabolic and inflammatory mechanisms may affect breast cancer progression. We tested the prognostic value of metabolic syndrome in 110 postmenopausal breast cancer patients, who participated in a 1-year dietary intervention study. The risk of adverse events after 5.5 years of follow-up was examined by Cox’ proportional hazard modelling, adjusting for hormone receptor status, stage at diagnosis and serum testosterone level, which were shown to significantly affect prognosis. The adjusted hazard ratio of recurrence for the presence of metabolic syndrome at baseline was 3.0 (95% CI 1.2–7.1). Combining metabolic syndrome and serum testosterone, the adjusted hazard ratio of recurrence among women with metabolic syndrome and testosterone levels higher than 0.40 ng/ml (median value) was 6.7 (95% CI 2.3–19.8) compared with that among women without metabolic syndrome and testosterone levels 0.40 ng/ml. The results suggest that metabolic syndrome may be an important prognostic factor for breast cancer. ' 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc. Key words: breast cancer; recurrences; metabolic syndrome
The prevalence of metabolic syndrome is increasing in parallel with increasing breast cancer incidence worldwide.1,2 Several studies have suggested that low HDL-cholesterol,3 high blood glucose,4 high triglycerides5 and other aspects of the metabolic syndrome, such as postmenopausal overweight,1 abdominal obesity,6,7 hypertension,8 high levels of insulin and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I),7,9–11 are associated with breast cancer risk. Metabolic and hormonal parameters related to metabolic syndrome have been suggested to affect breast cancer prognosis too.12–15 This is the first report addressing the issue whether breast cancer prognosis is affected by metabolic syndrome, defined by 3 or more of the following indicators: fasting glycaemia 110 mg/dl, HDL-cholesterol
