title: The impact of body mass index and type 2 diabetes on breast cancer: current therapeutic measures of prevention.
abstract: Epidemiological data have suggested a possible relationship between obesity, diabetes mellitus and cancer risk, particularly breast cancer. We set out to investigate the effect of body mass index and diabetes mellitus on the presence of breast cancer in the Apulian population. We selected 1,663 women affected with primary breast cancer and 4,702 control patients. All patients with breast cancer underwent surgical excision of the tumor and their tumors were histologically confirmed. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes (8%) in the women affected by breast cancer was significantly higher than in the control group (5%) (p<0.05). The majority of the diabetic women affected by breast cancer had a BMI value >25, both in premenopause and in postmenopause. With respect to BMI, the non-diabetic patients with breast cancer in postmenopause showed the same pattern as the diabetic ones. Instead, among the women in premenopause a higher percentage (55%) of patients with a BMI <24.9 was found (p<0.01). In the Apulian population, the presence of both type 2 diabetes and elevated values of BMI (that is in a condition of hyperinsulinemia) were found to enhance the frequency of breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Section of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Department of Internal Medicine, Immunology and Infectious Disease, University of Bari, Italy. f.resta@geriatria.uniba.it
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Resta
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Triggiani
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sabbà
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Licchelli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghiyasaldin
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Liso
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schittulli
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quaranta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paradiso
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Tafaro
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guastamacchia
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D017697:Premenopause / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors