OBESITY, BODY-FAT DISTRIBUTION AND THE INCIDENCE OF MAMMARY, CERVICAL, ENDOMETRIAL AND OVARIAN-CARCINOMA

The connection of body fat distribution (BFD) and the risk of developing mammary, cervical, endometrial or ovarian carcinoma was ascertained for 163 patients with carcinoma (mean age 49.9 [19-78] years) and 489 controls of comparable age and body-mass index. BFD was expressed as the ratio of waist and hip circumference (T/H ratio). A significant difference from the controls was found only for premenopausal women with ovarian or endometrial carcinoma (T/H ratio of 0.822 vs. 0.781 and 0.826 vs 0.789, respectively; P < 0.01). In premenopausal women with mammary or cervical carcinoma and in all postmenopausal women BFD was similar to that in the control subjects. A common cause of android obesity and ovarian or endometrial carcinoma may be a reduction of sex-hormone-binding globulins with an elevated serum level of free androgens and oestrogens.