Using Metabolomics to Understand Body Mass Index–Breast Cancer Link
Posted: Monday, April 9, 2018
Elevated body mass index (BMI) is associated with an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer—but why? What mechanisms are involved? A team led by Steven C. Moore, PhD, MPH, of the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, sought answers using metabolomics, the measurement and analysis of metabolites. In the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, they discussed four metabolites that seem to be linked to invasive and/or estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer.
The investigators had access to blood serum samples from more than 75,000 women aged 55 to 74 years at baseline from the national Prostate, Lung, Colorectal, and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial. A total of 621 postmenopausal women who later developed breast cancer were matched with controls who had not developed breast cancer.
The team identified 617 metabolites in the prediagnostic serum, 67 of which were correlated with increased BMI. Of them, two—16a-hydroxy-DHEA-3-sulfate and 3-methylglutarylcarnitine—were associated with an increased risk of invasive breast cancer (odds ratios = 1.65 and 1.67, respectively). Along with these two metabolites, two others—allo-isoleucine and 2-methylbutyrylcarnitine—were associated with an increased risk of estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer (odds ratios = 1.84, 1.91, 1.76, and 1.89, respectively).
Because the identified pathways may shed light on why excess body weight increases the postmenopausal breast cancer risk, Dr. Moore and colleagues believe their findings warrant replication in future studies. If these results are confirmed, they think pharmacologic and/or behavioral interventions “might modulate these pathways and reduce breast cancer risk.”
