Obesity in breast cancer--what is the risk factor? - PubMed (original) (raw)

Review

Obesity in breast cancer--what is the risk factor?

F R James et al. Eur J Cancer. 2015 Apr.

Abstract

Environmental factors influence breast cancer incidence and progression. High body mass index (BMI) is associated with increased risk of post-menopausal breast cancer and with poorer outcome in those with a history of breast cancer. High BMI is generally interpreted as excess adiposity (overweight or obesity) and the World Cancer Research Fund judged that the associations between BMI and incidence of breast cancer were due to body fatness. Although BMI is the most common measure used to characterise body composition, it cannot distinguish lean mass from fat mass, or characterise body fat distribution, and so individuals with the same BMI can have different body composition. In particular, the relation between BMI and lean or fat mass may differ between people with or without disease. The question therefore arises as to what aspect or aspects of body composition are causally linked to the poorer outcome of breast cancer patients with high BMI. This question is not addressed in the literature. Most studies have used BMI, without discussion of its shortcomings as a marker of body composition, leading to potentially important misinterpretation. In this article we review the different measurements used to characterise body composition in the literature, and how they relate to breast cancer risk and prognosis. Further research is required to better characterise the relation of body composition to breast cancer.

Keywords: Body composition; Body fatness; Breast cancer; Fat free mass; Fat mass; Intervention; Prognosis; Risk factor.

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources