Abstract
BackgroundBreast cancer is a heterogeneous disease which is divided broadly into luminal, HER2 and basal type based on molecular profiling. Increased body mass index (BMI) has been associated with the risk of developing breast cancer but the association based on molecular subtype remains conflicting.MethodsThis was an observational study carried out over a period of 2 years. Nonmetastatic breast cancer patients were evaluated for the tumour subtype based on surrogate markers (ER, PR and HER2). The BMI of these patients was correlated with the tumour subtype and size.ResultsWe studied 476 patients with breast cancer with the median age of 46 years (range, 25–86) and 58% were premenopausal. The mean BMI of the cohort was 24.1, which was significantly higher in postmenopausal women (24.9 versus 23.6, p < 0.05). Overall, only 10% of patients were obese. The mean BMI in the luminal, HER2 and TNBC subtypes was 24.7, 22.4 and 23.9, respectively (p < 0.01). Also, the mean tumour size in luminal, HER2 and TNBC subtype was 4.02, 3.80 and 4.27 cm, respectively (p = 0.158).ConclusionThe average BMI was higher in patients with luminal subtype followed by TNBC and lowest for HER2 at the time of diagnosis. The mean tumour size was numerically higher for TNBC and lowest for HER2 subtype although the difference was not statistically significant. Larger studies may provide clarity of association between the BMI and tumour subtype.
Highlights
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females and is one of the commonest causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide [1]
It is a well-known fact that breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and has been divided into Luminal, HER2 enriched and basal-like subtype based on molecular profiling [3]
We observed a higher body mass index (BMI) for luminal subtype at diagnosis followed by TNBC and HER2 subtype
Summary
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among females and is one of the commonest causes of cancer-related mortality worldwide [1]. In India, breast cancer is the commonest cancer amongst women followed by carcinoma of the cervix with a rising incidence in young premenopausal women [2] It is a well-known fact that breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and has been divided into Luminal, HER2 enriched and basal-like subtype based on molecular profiling [3]. An increased body mass index (BMI) has been found to be a risk factor for breast cancer in postmenopausal women It is associated with more aggressive tumour biology and a poor prognosis [6, 7]. Some studies have related a higher incidence of ER-positive breast cancer with BMI [8, 9] It remains uncertain whether the same association is present in the Indian population which has different reproductive patterns compared to a western population and possibly a different subtype distribution as well.
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