title: High leptin level is an independent risk factor of endometrial cancer: a meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Previous studies suggested that high leptin level might increase risk of endometrial cancer, but available data were conflicting and whether high leptin level was an independent risk factor of endometrial cancer was still unclear. Therefore, a meta-analysis was performed to assess whether high leptin level was an independent risk factor of endometrial cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases were searched for epidemiological studies published up to June 26, 2014. The pooled risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was used to assess the association between leptin level and risk of endometrial cancer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six studies with a total of 3136 individuals were finally included into the meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of total 6 studies showed that high leptin level was associated with increased risk of endometrial cancer (RR = 2.55, 95%CI 1.91-3.41, P < 0.001). After adjusting for confounding factors, high leptin level was also associated with increased risk of endometrial cancer (RR =1.59, 95%CI 1.27-1.98, P < 0.001). Sensitivity analysis proved the stability of the pooled estimates. The RR of endometrial cancer was 1.10 (95%CI, 1.03-1.18, P = 0.005) per 5 ng/mL increment in leptin levels. There was no obvious risk of publication bias (P Egger = 0.54).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that high leptin level is an independent risk factor of endometrial cancer. More prospective studies are needed to further confirm the association in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Weifang, Weifang, China.
authors.forename: Ping-Ping
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xiao-Yan
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Zengfang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yan-Gang
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020738:Leptin / Q000378:metabolism*; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D020738:Leptin