High BMI strongly tied to uterine cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Body mass index (BMI) is associated with uterine cancer, particularly in very obese women, Norwegian researchers report in the August issue of the British Journal of Cancer.

Dr. Kristina Lindemann of Akershus University Hospital, Lorenskog, and colleagues followed 36,755 women for uterine cancer incidence.

Over an average of 17.8 years, 263 histologically verified uterine cancers were diagnosed; 224 (85%) were endometrial cancers and 166 (74%) were further classified as endometrioid adenocarcinomas.

Overall, uterine cancers were strongly associated with BMI. Compared to the reference BMI of 20 to 24, for patients with a BMI of 40 or more, age-adjusted relative risks were 6.7 for all uterine cancers, 8.3 for endometrial cancer, and 11.1 for endometrioid adenocarcinomas.

For uterine cancers other than endometrioid adenocarcinomas, women with a BMI of 35 or more had an age-adjusted relative risk 4.67. No associations were seen in other BMI categories.

Dr. Lindemann told Reuters Health that "it is important to note that our results are suggestive of a particularly strong association with endometrioid adenocarcinomas but that a positive association of BMI with all subtypes of uterine cancer is observed."

"However," she concluded, "the moderate precision of the estimates warrants that future studies assess how obesity is related to different subtypes of uterine cancer."

Br J Cancer 2009;101:534-536.

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