Is body fat topography a risk factor for breast cancer?

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether body fat distribution is associated with the onset of breast cancer.

DESIGN

Case-control study.

SETTING

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York.

PATIENTS

Three hundred thirteen healthy, white women, born in the United States.

MEASUREMENTS

Waist and hip circumferences were measured on the day before diagnostic breast surgery, and an extensive risk assessment of clinical and family history data was done. After the results of diagnostic breast surgery were obtained, study participants were divided into three groups: women with breast cancer (n = 156); controls (n = 126) with benign tissue at biopsy and an average risk for breast cancer; and high-risk women (n = 31), defined as being at a risk for breast cancer development of 1% per year, based on rigorous histologic or clinical criteria.

RESULTS

The waist-to-hip ratios (WHR) were identical (mean +/- SD) in case patients (0.80 +/- 0.06), controls (0.80 +/- 0.06), and high-risk women (0.80 +/- 0.08). Further, no trend could be detected between increasing WHR and breast cancer risk; the estimated relative risk for cancer incidence in women with WHR greater than or equal to 0.81 was 0.78 (95% Cl, 0.36 to 1.71), compared with women with WHR of less than 0.73. No difference in WHR was noted between the case patients and controls when analyzed separately according to menopausal status, age, absolute weight, or relative weight.

CONCLUSION

In the women studied, body fat topography as defined by WHR was not associated with breast cancer development.