Investigators may have identified a heightened risk of various types of cancers among patients with persistent and worsening metabolic syndrome, according to a recent study published by Deng et al in Cancer.
Background
Metabolic syndrome encompasses conditions such as high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, excess abdominal fat, and abnormal cholesterol.
Study Methods and Results
In the recent study, the investigators categorized 44,115 adults with an average age of 49 years into four different trajectories based on trends from 2006 (the time of the first physical exam) to 2010: those who exhibited a low-stable pattern and maintained low metabolic syndrome scores (10.56%); those who exhibited a moderate-low pattern and maintained moderate to low metabolic syndrome scores (40.84%); those who exhibited a moderate-high pattern and consistently maintained moderate to high metabolic syndrome scores(41.46%); and those who exhibited an elevated-increasing pattern in which initially elevated metabolic syndrome scores increased over time (7.14%).
After a median follow-up of 9.4 years, the investigators found that 2,271 of the participants were diagnosed with cancer. Compared with the participants with a low-stable trajectory pattern, those with an elevated-increasing trajectory pattern had a 1.3-, 1.6-, 2.1-, 2.5-, 3.3-, and 4.5-fold higher risk of developing any cancer, hepatic cancer, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, and renal cell carcinoma, respectively.
The investigators noted that even when the low-stable, moderate-low, and moderate-high trajectory pattern groups were combined, the elevated-increasing trajectory pattern group had a higher risk of developing all of the cancer types.
Additionally, the participants with persistently high metabolic syndrome scores and concurrent chronic inflammation had the highest risk of developing breast cancer, endometrial cancer, colorectal cancer, and hepatic cancer; whereas the risk of renal cell carcinoma was predominantly observed among the participants with persistently high scores without chronic inflammation.
Conclusions
“This research suggests that proactive and continuous management of metabolic syndrome may serve as an essential strategy in preventing cancer. Our study can guide future research into the biological mechanisms linking metabolic syndrome to cancer, potentially resulting in targeted treatments or preventive strategies. Formal evaluation of these interventions will be needed to determine if they are able to modulate cancer risk,” concluded senior study author Han-Ping Shi, MD, PhD, of Capital Medical University in Beijing, China.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com.
