Thirumagal Kanagasabai, Jason X. Nie, Caitlin Mason and Chris I. Ardern
Background: Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is associated with elevated risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and premature mortality. To date, however, the association between MetS and obesity-related cancers has not been systematically assessed within a population-based sample.
Methods: In order to quantify the association between MetS and its components on any-site, breast, prostate, and colon cancers, data from the U.S. NHANES 1999-2010 (n=15 141, 18-85 years) were used.
Results: In general, the prevalence of MetS was higher amongst those with a self-reported history of cancer. Although MetS, its individual components, and total number of components were positively related to odds of any-site, breast, prostate, and colon cancers, this effect was almost entirely eliminated after adjustment for age. In age-adjusted models, elevated blood glucose was associated with higher odds of prostate (OR: 1.67, 95% CI: 1.08-2.56) and colon cancer (OR: 1.60, 95% CI: 1.02-2.53), and a protective effect of low HDL cholesterol on prostate cancer (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.43-0.94). Further adjustment for sex, ethnicity, income, education, smoking, alcohol, and recreational/ leisure-time physical activity had only minimal influence on these associations. In multivariable analyses, no uniform linear trends were observed between the number of MetS components and site-specific cancers.
Conclusion: After accounting for covariates, no consistent association between MetS and any-site, breast, prostate, or colon cancer was observed. Further prospective study is necessary to confirm and extend our understanding of the role of age and other risk factors on the inter-relationship between metabolic health and cancer.
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