Metabolic Syndrome Linked to Lower Disease-Free Survival in Breast Cancer Survivors

Breast cancer (BC) survivors with metabolic syndrome have shorter disease-free survival, according to a study being presented at ESMO Breast Cancer 2024, taking place May 15-17 in Berlin, Germany.

Metabolic syndrome factors, which include obesity, hypertension, hyperglycemia, high triglycerides, and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, have been linked to cardiovascular diseases and also indicate a worse BC prognosis. Researchers of this systematic review and meta-analysis assessed the impact of metabolic syndrome on disease-free survival in BC survivors.

They conducted a search of the PubMed and Embase databases using variations of the search terms breast neoplasms (population), metabolic syndrome (exposure), and survival (outcome). They noted that metabolic syndrome was defined according to the American Heart Association and includes the presence of 3 of 5 abnormal findings among the following risk factors: elevated blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, reduced HDL cholesterol, elevated fasting glucose, and central obesity. Overall, the researchers identified 953 studies, of which 18 were selected for analysis. These studies comprised 36,822 BC survivors.

According to the analysis, BC survivors with metabolic syndrome at BC diagnosis had shorter disease-free survival in comparison with BC survivors without metabolic syndrome (HR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.10-1.33). “This warrants development of clinical guidelines, including metabolic screening of BC survivors, and further research to determine interventions, which reduce the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among BC survivors toward improved survival,” the researchers concluded.