Metabolic syndrome and the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women

Results: The odds ratios (ORs) of postmenopausal breast cancer were 1.33 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09–1.62] for diabetes, 1.19 (95% CI 1.07–1.33) for hypertension, 1.08 (95% CI 0.95–1.22) for hyperlipidemia, 1.26 (95% CI 1.11–1.44) for body mass index ‡30 kg/m 2 , and 1.22 (95% CI 1.09–1.36) for waist circumference ‡88 cm. The risk of postmenopausal breast cancer was significantly increased for women with MetS (OR = 1.75, 95% CI 1.37–2.22, for three or more MetS components, P for trend for increasing number of components < 0.0001) and the risk was higher at older age (OR = 3.04, 95% CI 1.75–5.29, at age ‡70 years for three or more MetS components). Conclusions: This study supports a direct association between MetS and postmenopausal breast cancer risk.