Objective: The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) in Korean women with endometrial cancer.
Methods: Among 227 patients with endometrial cancer in the study population, 20 patients (8.8%) had HNPCC. The patients were divided into 2 groups based on the BMI: nonobese (BMI ≤25 kg/m) and obese (BMI >25 kg/m); then the nonobese group was subdivided into 2 groups: normal weight (BMI <23 kg/m) and overweight (BMI, 23-25 kg/m). The distributions of BMI categories were compared between patients with sporadic endometrial cancer and with HNPCC-related endometrial cancer.
Results: Among 207 patients with sporadic endometrial cancer, 119 (57.5%) were nonobese and 88 patients (42.5%) were obese. Of 20 patients with endometrial cancer related to HNPCC, 10 (50.0%) were nonobese and 10 (50.0%) were obese. In a subgroup analysis of only nonobese patients, 68 patients with sporadic endometrial cancer had normal weight and 51 were overweight. On the other hand, all 10 patients with HNPCC related to endometrial cancer had normal weight. There was no significant difference between the group with HNPCC-related endometrial cancer and the group with sporadic endometrial cancer according to BMI (P = 0.221). However, BMI proportions in HNPCC related to endometrial cancer were significantly different from those in sporadic endometrial cancer (P = 0.016). Among a subgroup of nonobese patients, the proportion of normal weight was significant higher in patients with HNPCC-related endometrial cancer compared to those in sporadic endometrial cancer (P = 0.006).
Conclusion: Body mass index was not different between sporadic endometrial cancer and HNPCC-related endometrial cancer in Koreans. However, BMI proportions in the patients with HNPCC related to endometrial cancer was significantly different from those in sporadic endometrial cancer. Specifically, among nonobese patients, the proportion of normal weight was significantly high in Korean women with HNPCC.