The effect of body mass index and total cholesterol levels on histopathological grading in breast cancer patients.

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is the most common cancer between females globally with many involving risk factors. There are increasing evidences about the role of obesity, which is usually assessed using body mass index (BMI), and hypercholesterolemia in breast cancer development through different mechanisms including the interplay with the immune response. The histopathological grading, which reflects the degree of differentiation, could be used to determine the aggressiveness of breast cancer. Limited studies assessed the correlation between the previous factors and histopathological grading in breast cancer patients and they concluded controversial results.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to investigate the correlation of BMI and total cholesterol levels with histopathological grading in breast cancer patients with regard to menopausal status.

METHODS

Total cholesterol was measured using Qimica kit/Spain and data were analyzed using suitable statistical tests. -value<0.05 was considered as statistically significant.

RESULTS

We found a significant relationship between BMI and tumor grading ( = 0.008). The correlation was observed in postmenopausal patients ( = 0.01) with no correlation in premenopausal patients ( = 0.32). Also, there was a significant correlation between total cholesterol and tumor grading ( = 0.003) only in postmenopausal patients ( = 0.011) with no correlation in premenopausal patients ( = 0.32).

CONCLUSIONS

There is a significant relationship of histopathological grading with both BMI and total cholesterol levels in postmenopausal breast cancer patients. Further studies with larger samples are needed to evaluate the role of those factors in breast cancer progression and aggressiveness and their effects on immunotherapy tolerance and response.