Body Size/Composition and Endometrial Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women

Takeaway

• Endometrial cancer risk was positively associated with body mass index (BMI), weight, body fat percentage, and fat mass in postmenopausal women.

• Central adiposity, as reflected by waist circumference and waist to hip ratio, may be associated with endometrial cancer risk independent of BMI.

Why this matters

• Findings suggest that body fat percentage and fat mass may not be better indicators of endometrial cancer risk than BMI.

Study design

• UK Biobank study of 135,110 post-menopausal women.

• Associations between various measures of body size/composition with the risk of endometrial cancer assessed.

• Funding: None disclosed.

Key results

• 706 endometrial cancers were identified, with a mean age at diagnosis of 65.5 years, during a mean follow-up of 6.8 years.

• The HRs for endometrial cancer per 1-standard deviation (SD) increase in BMI, weight, body fat percentage, and fat mass were comparable:

  • BMI (HR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.61-1.82);

  • weight (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.60-1.81);

  • body fat percentage (HR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.75-2.11); and

  • fat mass (HR, 1.73; 95% CI, 1.63-1.85).

• However, in terms of X² statistics, BMI was the most informative marker (X² values for BMI, weight, body fat percentage, and fat mass were 509, 499, 456, and 501, respectively).

• After adjustment for BMI, central adiposity, as reflected by waist circumference (HR_{per 1-SD increase}, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.00-1.17) and waist to hip ratio (HR_{per 1-SD increase}, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.01-1.26), was positively associated with endometrial cancer risk.

• Hip circumference and fat-free mass were not associated with the endometrial cancer risk independent of BMI.

Limitations

• Study largely reflects associations with type I tumours.

This clinical summary first appeared on Univadis from Medscape.

Cite this: Body Size/Composition and Endometrial Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women - Medscape - Apr 30, 2020.