Frequency of Metabolic Syndrome and its Associated Factors in Patients with Breast Carcinoma at Tertiary Care University Hospitals of Pakistan

Objective: To determine the frequency of metabolic syndrome and its associated factors in patients with biopsy proven breast cancer at tertiary care university hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan.

Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted at the hospitals affiliated with Dow university of health sciences & Baqai medical university from January 2018 to September 2019.A total of 114women between 30 to 50 years of age presented to the out patients clinics and underwent triple assessment including detailed history &examination, radiological assessment and fine needle aspiration cytology for confirmation of breast cancer were included in the study after taking written informed consent. Along with the routine baseline investigations blood sugar for hyperglycemia&blood sample for lipid profile was taken in fasting from Dow Lab. Blood pressure of the patients was also checked along with the weight, height and waist measurements. The SPSS version 19 was applied to the data for description and analysis.

Results: Mean age of the patients was 42.57 ±4.90 years. Stages of cancer showed that stage III was found in majority (n=50, 43.9%). Frequency of metabolic syndrome was observed in 44 (38.6%) of the patients. A significant association of metabolic syndrome with educational status (p-value <0.001), Hypertension (p-value <0.001), Central obesity (p-value <0.001), Fasting blood sugar levels (p-value <0.001), Triglyceride levels (p-value <0.001), High density lipoprotein levels (p-value <0.001), and different Stages of breast cancer (p-value 0.003) was observed.

Conclusion: This study show that a significant number of patients with breast cancer are suffering from metabolic syndrome which is also correlates with the educational status of the patients.