Metabolic syndrome affects breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women: National Cancer Institute of Naples experience

Postmenopausal women show the highest incidence of breast cancer in the female population and are often affected by metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome (MS) - characterized by central adiposity, insulin resistance, low serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), high serum triglyceride and high blood pressure - seems to be strictly correlated to breast carcinogenesis. We enrolled 777 healthy women and women with breast cancer in our nested case-control study to evaluate the association between MS and breast cancer, analyzing anthropometric parameters (weight, height, BMI, waist and hip circumference), blood pressure, serum HDL-C, triglyceride, fasting plasma glucose, insulin, testosterone and uric acid levels and administering a questionnaire about physical activity, food intake, tobacco use, alcohol abuse, personal and familial history of disease. We found an higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome (30%) in postmenopausal breast cancer patients compared to healthy women (19%). None of the indi...