Relationship between body mass index, waist circumference and waist to hip ratio and the steroid hormone receptor status in breast carcinoma of pre- and postmenopausal women

Objective: To assess whether body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist to hip ratio (WRH) are associated to the steroid receptor status in breast carcinomas. Methods: Four hundred and seventy three women with breast malignancies stage I-III were included. Weight, height, the waist and hip circumferences (WC), body mass index (BMI), and the waist to hip ratio (WHR) were determined. The expression of estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) receptors was determined with immunohistochemistry. Results: Most women had central obesity (WC >= 88 and WHR >= 0.85 in 64.3 and 73.4%, respectively). The majority (78.1%) of the women had tumors that expressed at least one of the HR. BMI, WC and WHP were not related to the HR status in neither the pre- or postmenopausal women. Multivariate analysis confirmed these findings. Conclusions: BMI, WC or WHR may not be good predictors of HR status in breast malignancies in either pre- or postmenopausal women. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.18181