[Android obesity and breast cancer risk].

The 1998 report on the occasion of the 4th anniversary of International obesity Task Force emphasized that overweight (BMI > 25) is also linked to the increasing incidence of some neoplasias--breast, colon, endometer, prostate or kidney. Carmichael and Bates showed an inverse relationship between BMI and perimenopausal breast cancer.

METHODS

We studied a group of 110 patients divided in three subgroups--30 patients who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer; 50 patients with breast dysplasia diagnosed by mammography and mammary echography; 30 patients with no modifications on mammography or breast echography. Height, weight, abdominal and hip perimeter have been measured. All have performed complete lipidogramme as well as serum estradiol.

RESULTS

15 of the 30 breast cancer patients (50%) were obese with a WHR > 0.8 compared to 23 (46%) in the mastosis group and 20 (66%) in the reference group. The prevalence differences were not significant, but the association between abdominal obesity and increased serum estradiol is highly significant for group I compared to the other groups (p < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study confirms that android obesity and estrogens are linked to breast carcinogenesis promotion by synergic or common pathways.