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