Examining the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among overweight/obese African-American breast cancer survivors vs. matched non-cancer controls.

Abstract

Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) is more predominant in overweight, obese and minority populations. This study examined the prevalence of MetS in an exclusively African-American (AA) cohort of breast cancer (BC) survivors; an underrepresented group in previous studies demonstrating negative BC outcomes disparities for females with MetS. Using a case-control design, overweight/obese AA women with treated Stage I-IIIa BC were matched 1:1 on age, race, sex, and body mass index (BMI) category with non-cancer population controls (n=444). Three of the following conditions were used to define MetS: HDL cholesterol <50mg/dL (1.3mmol/L), serum triglycerides ≥150mg/dL (1.7mmol/L), blood glucose ≥100mg/dL (or on treatment), waist circumference ≥88cm, or ≥130mmHg systolic or ≥85mmHg diastolic blood pressure (or on treatment). Matched-pairs analyses were conducted. For BC cases, most women had self-reported Stage I (n=76) or Stage II (n=91) disease and were 6.9 (±5.2) years post-diagnosis. MetS was significantly lower in BC survivors vs. their non-cancer population controls (43.2 vs. 51.4%, respectively; p<0.05). The diagnosis of MetS did not differ by BMI stratification. A lower prevalence of ≥2 risk factors (80.2 vs. 85.6%, p<0.05) was observed for all cases vs. While MetS occurred less frequently in our BC cases vs. non-cancer controls, our estimates are nearly two times those reported in other BC survivors, suggesting important racial/ethnic differences. The prognostic implications of MetS among AA BC survivors remain unknown and warrant further investigation.