Underweight Indian Women at a Risk for Developing Breast Cancer: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Background: Breast cancer is the leading cancer diagnosed in Indian women. Lifestyle related factors such as high body mass index (BMI) and obesity have been recognized as major risk factors for the development of breast cancer. However, India has higher proportion of underweight population and recently positive correlation has been reported between underweight and increased risk of breast cancer. We have attempted to study an association between low BMI and total body fat percentage with breast cancer risk by performing retrospective analysis on a small sample size of 41 female patients diagnosed with breast cancer. The data was collected from Department of Oncology, Bharati Vidyapeeth Hospital and Research Centre (BVHRC), Pune, India. Methods: Binary logistic regression was performed to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and to examine the predictive effect of each factor on the breast cancer risk. Results: It was observed that underweight population displayed higher risk of breast cancer development based on BMI (OR-15.40) and body fat % (OR-1.33). Conclusion: This pilot study suggests that low body mass index may be related to poor prognosis in breast cancer and thus warrants further studies on a larger sample size to establish a positive correlation.

Keywords

• breast cancer; body mass index; body fat percentage