Waist Circumference as a Tool for Identifying Visceral Fat in Women with Non-Metastatic Breast Cancer

Abstract

Abdominal adiposity is associated with tumor development and poor clinical outcomes in breast cancer (BC) and can be identified by the measurement of waist circumference (WC) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT). This study aimed to evaluate the association between waist circumference (WC) and imaging measurement of central adiposity according to age group in women with BC. Abdominal adiposity was assessed by WC and VAT, obtained by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Body mass index (BMI) was assessed. The presence of inflammation was investigated by measuring C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels. Multivariate linear regression models were applied to verify the association between WC and VAT. The significance level adopted for all tests was 5%. This study included 112 women with a mean age of 55.5 ± 11.4 years. After adjusted models, WC remained associated with VAT and for every centimeter increase in WC, there was an increase of 3.12 cm² (CI: 2.40 − 3.85; p < 0.001) in VAT. WC was associated with VAT in women with breast cancer, proving to be a simple, fast, and noninvasive approach that can be used as a proxy to identify visceral fat.

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Cassiano de Moraes University Hospital for the support. The authors also thank our study participants for their permission.

Authors’ contributions

Study conceptualization and design: VFSM and VRG. Data curation: VFSM, MSV, RAMB, LLS, TGS LGF, JLMR and VRG. Statistical analysis: VFSM, JLMR and VRG. Investigation: VFSM, MSV, RAMB, LLS, TGS, LGF, JMM and BHA. Study supervision: VRG. Resources: VRG. Writing: VFSM, JLMR and VRG. Writing – review & editing: VFSM; RAMB, JLMR and VRG. Final revision and approval of the version of the manuscript to be published: all authors.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare there are no competing interests to declare.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, VRG, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.