There are not only studies testing lines of chemotherapy presented at the congress of the American Society of American Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2024) which is held at the beginning of June every year in Chicago. Epidemiological work, the results of which are worrying, is also presented. The link between obesity and endometrial adenocarcinoma (ACE) has long been well established.
The causes are multiple, notably hormonal, through hyperinsulinemia, increased leptin and hyperestrogenemia (peripheral aromatization) induced by adipose tissue. We also know that the incidence of obesity is increasing in developed countries and particularly in the United States. Researchers wanted to know if this increase was correlated with that of endometrial cancer.
American records
U.S. health data is often compiled into registries. There are some for cancer, but also for nutritional status. These data were collected between 2001 and 2018 for the incidence of ACE and between 1988 and 2018 for that of obesity, which was defined according to BMI: class I (BMI between 30 and 34.9 kg /m2), class II (BMI between 35 and 39.9) and class III (BMI > 40). The average annual percentage increase (AMAP) was used to describe changing trends. As permitted in the United States, subgroup analyzes based on ethnicity were performed.
Between 2001 and 2018, 615,656 patients with CEA were identified. Over this period, the annual increase in ACE incidence was +1.37% for Hispanic women (p
The largest increase between ages 30 and 39 was among Hispanic women with +4.67% (p
According to the registry, the prevalence of obesity among adult women was 56.8% among African-American women in 2018, 44.1% for Hispanic women and 40.9% for white women. Obesity rates for all women increased by +4.6% per year since 1988 (p
These results confirm, if necessary, the very strong increase in the incidence of obesity within the North American female population and its association over time with the increase in incidence of adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, particularly in younger women, as well as in Hispanics and African-Americans. The authors of the study call for targeted interventions from health authorities among these populations.
This article was originally published on JIM.fr.
