Association of Dyslipidemia with Breast Cancer in Women

Introduction: Dyslipidemia and increased cholesterol levels are showed to be positively associated with  breast  cancer risk. Due to population ageing, breast  cancer is expanding at an alarming  rate, globally. Therefore, efforts to minimize increased rates of breast  cancer are targeting the modifiable risk factors, such as dyslipidemia through dietary and life style modifica- tion.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between dyslipidemia and breast  cancer in pre and postmenopausal women.

Material and Method: In the present epidemiological study, were enrolled 501 premenopausal and postmenopausal women with breast  cancer in

four public hospital in Athens. Data were collected by the completion of a specially designed questionnaire  which included patients’ charac- teristics. The level of statistical  significance was set at p<0.05.

Results: Of the 501 women enrolled in the study, 34% was over 60 years old. In terms of lipids profile, 50.3% had high total cholesterol  levels (240+ mg/ dl), 33.5% had high LDL levels (160+ mg/dl), 38.5% had high triglycer- ides levels (200+mg/dl)  and 77.7% had moderate risk HDL levels (41–59 mg/dl). Regarding Body Mass Index, weight and overweight/obese was

59.4%. Concerning type of cancer, 52.5% had invasive  ductal carcinoma,

32.1% had non-invasive non ductal, 8.6%  had invasive lobular carcinoma and 6.8% had non-invasive lobular carcinoma. Women with non-invasive non-ductal carcinoma had higher  abnormal values of total cholesterol, p=0.006, triglycerides, p=0.009, and lower HDL values, p=0.005. In terms of non-invasive non-ductal carcinoma, it was more common in women who increased their body weight over 10 kg after menopause, p=0.026, those of primary and secondary education, p<0.001,  with comorbidity, p<0.001. Moreover, participants with non-invasive non ductal carcinoma had a larger waist and hip circumference, p=0.007  and p<0.012,  respec- tively, and advanced menopausal age, p=0.099. Regarding, invasive ductal carcinoma, it was more common in smokers, p=0.005, who regularly consumed alcohol, p=0.010  and at younger ages, p <0.001.  Concerning lobular  carcinoma, the invasive  one was more common in women older than 61 years, p<0.001. Longer hospital stay was observed in women with invasive  lobular  carcinoma of the breast, p<0.008. Women who re- ported adenoma as a benign  breast  disease  were more likely to develop non-invasive lobular carcinoma, p=0.002 while women with non-invasive lobular carcinoma had a shorter physical exercise time, p=0.039.

Conclusions: Population-based epidemiological data are needed for a more  ac- curate analysis of the association between dyslipidemia and breast cancer development with ultimate goal to provide directions for treatment and prevention of cancer.