Upper-body fat distribution and endometrial cancer risk

--To determine if body fat distribution affected endometrial cancer risk.

--Case-control study.

--This study was carried out at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center at the University of South Florida, Tampa, where all patients in the case group received their diagnoses and histological confirmations.

--Forty consecutive women newly diagnosed with endometrial cancer and 40 controls matched for age and Quetelet index.

--Anthropometric measurements were taken for the abdomen, thigh, suprailiac, subscapular, biceps, and triceps skin fold thicknesses; waist and hip circumferences, weight, and height. Relative risks for endometrial cancer were calculated according to these anthropometric measurements.

--Case patients with endometrial cancer had significantly greater waist-to-hip circumference ratios (P less than .001), abdomen-to-thigh skin fold ratios (P less than .01), and suprailiac-to-thigh skin fold ratios (P = .02) compared with control subjects matched for age and Quetelet index. The relative risk for endometrial cancer increased with an increasing waist-to-hip circumference ratio (less than or equal to 1.14 = 1.0; greater than 1.14 = 15.0), with an increasing abdomen-to-thigh skin fold ratio (less than or equal to 0.82 = 1.0; greater than 0.82 = 5.0), and with an increasing suprailiac to-thigh skin fold thickness ratio (less than or equal to 0.67 = 1.0; greater than 0.67 = 3.50).

--Upper-body fat localization is a significant risk factor for endometrial cancer in women matched for age and Quetelet index.