A study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research showed women age 65 or older who had metabolic syndrome were at increased risk of endometrial cancer, this increased risk was independent of being overweight or obese. Metabolic syndrome is a common disorder characterized by a number of medical conditions, including low levels of “good" cholesterol and high levels of fats called triglycerides.
“Almost one-quarter of nondiabetics in the United States are estimated to have metabolic syndrome," said Britton Trabert, PhD, an investigator in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. “There are a number of definitions of metabolic syndrome, but it is diagnosed when patients have several of the following conditions at the same time: Being overweight/obese, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, impaired fasting glucose, and low HDL [high-density lipoprotein] cholesterol.
“We found that a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was associated with higher risk of endometrial cancer, and that metabolic syndrome appeared to increase risk regardless of whether the woman was considered obese," Trabert added.
“Although our study was not designed to evaluate the potential impact of preventing metabolic syndrome on endometrial cancer incidence, weight loss and exercise are the most effective steps a woman can take to prevent developing metabolic syndrome," Trabert explained.
If a woman is obese the risk factor for endometrial cancer inceases trendously. Trabert concluded , prior studies have found that metabolic syndrome is also associated with increased endometrial cancer risk but it was unclear whether the association was driven by obesity alone or if it was also driven by other metabolic syndrome components.
Trabert and colleagues analyzed data from 16,323 women diagnosed with endometrial cancer and 100,751 women without endometrial cancer.
A diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, as defined by U.S. National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III criteria and International Diabetes Foundation criteria, was associated with an increased endometrial cancer risk of 39 percent and 103 percent, respectively. After considering if a woman was overweight/obese, the associations with increased risk of endometrial cancer were 21 percent and 17 percent for the two metabolic syndrome definitions, respectively.
The researchers concluded that each distinct metabolic syndrome condition that they could evaluate within the database—excessive weight, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and impaired fasting glucose—was associated with increased risk for endometrial cancer .
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