Abstract
Metabolic syndrome has become a major public health problem worldwide and represents a common clinical condition in countries with a high incidence of obesity and western dietary patterns. Metabolic syndrome associates with common cancers at many sites, including liver, colorectal, and bladder cancers in men, and endometrial, pancreatic, breast post-menopausal, and colorectal cancers in women. However, the role played by each single component of the syndrome on cancer risk is still unclear. For endometrial cancer, obesity and/or high circumference waist explain all the risk associated with the full metabolic syndrome, while for post-menopausal breast cancer, the risk conveyed by metabolic syndrome appears to be greater than its parts, as no single component explains the full risk associated with the syndrome. Future research should cover other avenues in order to elucidate the complexity of biological processes linking metabolic syndrome and cancer.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
A.J. Hanley, L.E. Wagenknecht, R.B. D’Agostino Jr., B. Zinman, S.M. Haffner, Identification of subjects with insulin resistance and beta-cell dysfunction using alternative definitions of the metabolic syndrome. Diabetes 52, 2740–2747 (2003)
I.J. Neeland, A.T. Turer, C.R. Ayers, T.M. Powell-Wiley, G.L. Vega, R. Farzaneh-Far, S.M. Grundy, A. Khera, D.K. McGuire, J.A. de Lemos, Dysfunctional adiposity and the risk of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes in obese adults. JAMA 308, 1150–1159 (2012)
K.G.M.M. Alberti, R.H. Eckel, S.M. Grundy, P.Z. Zimmet, J.I. Cleeman, K.A. Donato, J.C. Fruchart, W.P. James, C.M. Loria, S.C. Smith Jr, International Diabetes Federation Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, American Heart Association, World Heart Federation, International Atherosclerosis Society, International Association for the Study of Obesity, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, American Heart Association, World Heart Federation, International Atherosclerosis Society, International Association for the Study of Obesity, Harmonizing the metabolic syndrome: a joint interim statement of the International Diabetes Federation Task Force on Epidemiology and Prevention. Circulation 120, 1640–1645 (2009)
K. Esposito, P. Chiodini, A. Colao, A. Lenzi, D. Giugliano, Metabolic syndrome and risk of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes Care 35, 2402–2411 (2012)
K. Esposito, P. Chiodini, A. Capuano, G. Bellastella, M.I. Maiorino, E. Parretta, A. Lenzi, D. Giugliano, Effect of metabolic syndrome and its components on prostate cancer risk: meta-analysis. J. Endocrinol. Invest. 36, 132–139 (2013)
K. Esposito, P. Chiodini, A. Capuano, G. Bellastella, M.I. Maiorino, D. Giugliano, Metabolic syndrome and endometrial cancer: a meta-analysis. Endocrine (2013). doi:10.1007/s12020-013-9973-3
K. Esposito, P. Chiodini, A. Capuano, G. Bellastella, M.I. Maiorino, C. Rafaniello, D. Giugliano, Metabolic syndrome and postmenopausal breast cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis. Menopause (2013). doi:10.1097/GME.0b013e31828ce95d
K. Esposito, P. Chiodini P, A. Capuano, G. Bellastella, M.I. Maiorino, C. Rafaniello, D.B. Panagiotakos, D. Giugliano, Colorectal cancer association with metabolic syndrome and its components: a systematic review with meta-analysis. Endocrine (2013). doi:10.1007/s12020-013-9939-5
A.G. Renehan, M. Tyson, M. Egger, R.F. Heller, M. Zwahlen, Body-mass index and incidence of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective observational studies. Lancet 371, 569–578 (2008)
World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research, Food, nutrition, physical activity, and the prevention of cancer: a global perspective (AICR, Washington DC, 2007)
A. Renehan, U. Smith, M.S. Kirkman, Linking diabetes and cancer: a consensus on complexity. Lancet 375, 2201–2202 (2010)
B.B. Barone, H.C. Yeh, C.F. Snyder, K.S. Peairs, K.B. Stein, R.L., Derr, A.C. Wolff, F.L. Brancati, Postoperative mortality in cancer patients with preexisting diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis. Diabetes Care 33, 931–939 (2010)
B.B. Barone, H.C. Yeh, C.F. Snyder, K.S. Peairs, K.B. Stein, R.L., Derr, A.C. Wolff, F.L. Brancati, Long-term all-cause mortality in cancer patients with preexisting diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA 300, 2754–2764 (2008)
S.D. Hursting, M.J. Hursting, Growth signals, inflammation, and vascular perturbations: mechanistic links between obesity, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 32, 1766–1770 (2012)
S.S. Lim, T. Vos, A.D. Flaxman et al., A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet 380, 2224–2260 (2012)
K. Esposito, M. Ciotola, D. Giugliano, Mediterranean diet and the metabolic syndrome. Mol. Nutr. Food Res. 51, 1268–1274 (2007)
D. Giugliano, A. Ceriello, K. Esposito, Are there specific treatments for the metabolic syndrome? Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 87, 8–11 (2008)
K. Esposito, C.M. Kastorini, D.B. Panagiotakos, D. Giugliano, Mediterranean diet and metabolic syndrome: An updated systematic review. Rev. Endocr. Metab. Disord. (2013). doi:10.1007/s11154-013-9253-9
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Esposito, K., Capuano, A. & Giugliano, D. Metabolic syndrome and cancer: holistic or reductionist?. Endocrine 45, 362–364 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-013-0056-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-013-0056-2