Young Women with High Obesity Levels Have Increased Risk of High-Risk Breast Cancer

Correlation Analysis Between Body Mass Index and Oncotype Dx

Professor An Seong-gwi, Department of Breast Surgery, Gangnam Severance Hospital (left), Professor Lee Sae-byeol, Department of Breast Surgery, Seoul Asan Hospital.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] A study has found that the higher the obesity level in premenopausal women, the greater the likelihood of developing estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer with poor prognosis.

Professor Ahn Sung-gwi of the Breast Surgery Department at Yonsei University Gangnam Severance Hospital and Professor Lee Sae-byeol of the Breast Surgery Department at Seoul Asan Hospital announced on the 20th that their team confirmed the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and the "gene-based recurrence prediction score (21-gene Recurrence Score)" in patients with estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.

The research team focused on the high proportion of young patients among breast cancer patients in Korea and decided to examine the correlation between obesity in premenopausal women and cancer prognosis. For this, they conducted a retrospective study on 776 patients aged 45 or younger out of 2,295 estrogen receptor-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer patients who underwent curative surgery at Gangnam Severance Hospital and Seoul Asan Hospital from March 2010 to December 2020, analyzing the correlation between Oncotype DX scores and BMI.

The researchers divided the patients into obese and normal groups based on the Korean obesity diagnostic criterion of a BMI of 25 and compared their Oncotype DX scores. For young women, chemotherapy is considered if the Oncotype DX score exceeds 20. The proportion of patients with scores over 20 was 45.5% in the obese group, significantly higher than the 27.3% in the normal weight group (P<0.001). Accordingly, the chemotherapy rate in the obese group (30.7%) was also higher than that of the normal weight group (20.2%).

Professor Ahn said, "This study is the first to demonstrate that higher obesity levels in young women can lead to cancers with more aggressive characteristics," adding, "This research reflects the characteristics of young women in Asia, and various additional studies considering racial differences are necessary."

The study results were published in the international journal JAMA Network Open (IF: 13.360), issued by the American Medical Association.

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