Recent research has suggested that people with worsening metabolic syndrome face a higher risk of developing all types of cancer, particularly kidney cancer.
Metabolic syndrome is not a single condition, but the term is applied when a person has three or more of the these markers: central or abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein.
It’s been established that metabolic syndrome and its underlying conditions are associated with cardiovascular issues as well as type 2 diabetes, but this latest study shows how metabolic syndrome contributes to cancer risk over time.
MedicalNewsToday reports that the findings, which analysed nearly 45 000 adults in China (average age 49), were published in the journal Cancer.
“Our study can guide future research into the biological mechanisms linking metabolic syndrome to cancer, potentially resulting in targeted treatments or preventive strategies. Formal evaluation of these interventions will be needed to determine if they are able to modulate cancer risk,” said Dr Han-Ping Shi, a senior study author and a surgeon at the Capital Medical University in Beijing.
Shi and his colleagues reported that over a median follow-up period of more than nine years, research participants with elevated and increasing metabolic syndrome faced a higher risk of developing any kind of cancer.
Of note, the risk of developing kidney cancer was more than four times higher than those with a low-stable trajectory.
The individual conditions that comprise metabolic syndrome all carry their own health risks, but the overlapping of these multiple risk factors compound matters further.
The risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes increases with metabolic syndrome and the research from China shows that cancer is another potential risk.
Dr Anton Bilchik, a surgical oncologist and chief of medicine and director of the Gastrointestinal and Haepatobiliary Programme at Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute, California, said these findings give unique insights into the long-term progression of metabolic syndrome.
“This research is unique in that this is a large prospective cohort study, unlike most studies which retrospectively demonstrate a higher risk of people developing cancer with metabolic syndrome. It also evaluates the trajectory of metabolic syndrome over a four-year period,” he said.
“While it is known that inflammation contributes to the development of cancer, it demonstrates that the combination of inflammation and metabolic syndrome carries an even higher risk of developing several common cancers: breast, colon, endometrial and liver cancer.”
Rise of metabolic syndrome in US
Rates of metabolic syndrome in the United States have been trending upward for decades.
Between 1988 and 1994, slightly more than 25% of adults in the country had metabolic syndrome. The next period, which encompassed the years 1999 to 2006, saw a slight dip, with researchers reporting that the number had fallen to exactly 25 percent.
However, from 2007 to 2012, the numbers rose to 34%.
Study details
The association of metabolic syndrome scores trajectory patterns with risk of all cancer types
Li Deng, Tong Liu, Chen-An Liu, Qi Zhang, Meng-Meng Song, Shi-Qi Lin, Yi-Ming Wang, Qing-Song Zhang, Han-Ping Shi.
Published in Cancer on 11 March 2024
Abstract
Background
Metabolic syndrome (MetS) elevates cancer risk. However, a single MetS assessment does not fully reveal the long-term association with cancer. Inflammation, alongside MetS, could synergistically expedite both the onset and advancement of cancer. This study aims to investigate MetS score trajectories and cancer risk in a large, prospective cohort study.
Methods
The authors prospectively examined the relationship between MetS score trajectory patterns and new-onset cancer in 44,115 participants. Latent mixture modelling was used to identify the MetS score trajectories. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to evaluate the association between MetS score trajectory patterns and the risk of overall and site-specific cancers.
Results
Four MetS score trajectory patterns were identified: low-stable (n = 4657), moderate-low (n = 18,018), moderate-high (n = 18,288), and elevated-increasing (n = 3152). Compared to participants with a low-stable trajectory pattern, the elevated-increasing trajectory pattern was associated with an elevated risk of overall (hazard ratio [HR], 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.04–1.55), breast (HR, 2.11; 95% CI, 1.04–4.34), endometrial (HR, 3.33; 95% CI, 1.16–6.77), kidney (HR, 4.52; 95% CI, 1.17–10.48), colorectal (HR, 2.54; 95% CI, 1.27–5.09), and liver (HR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.09–4.57) cancers. Among participants with chronic inflammation (C-reactive protein levels ≥3 mg/L), the elevated-increasing trajectory pattern was significantly associated with subsequent breast, endometrial, colorectal, and liver cancers.
Conclusions
Trajectories of MetS scores are associated with the occurrence of cancers, especially breast, endometrial, kidney, colorectal, and liver cancers, emphasising the importance of long-term monitoring and evaluation of MetS.
Plain Language Summary
The association between long-term elevated metabolic syndrome (MetS) scores and a heightened risk of various cancers is a pivotal finding of our study.
Our research further indicates that individuals with MetS, particularly when coupled with chronic inflammation, are at an increased risk of cancer.
We propose that sustained monitoring and management of MetS could be beneficial in reducing cancer risk.
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