The association between body mass index and vulvar and vaginal cancer incidence: findings from a large Norwegian cohort study
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Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Background
There is limited evidence of potential associations between body mass index (BMI) and risk of vulvar and vaginal cancer. We explored these associations in a large cohort of Norwegian women.
Methods
The analytical dataset included 889,441 women aged 16–75 years at baseline in 1963–1975. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between BMI and vulvar and vaginal cancer incidence.
Results
During 30.1 million person-years of follow-up, 1748 incident vulvar and 408 incident vaginal cancer cases occurred. The HRs (95% CIs) for vulvar cancer for a BMI of 15- < 18.5, 18.5- < 25, 25- < 30, 30- < 35, ≥ 35 were 0.62 (0.38–1.01), 1.00 (reference), 1.23 (1.10–1.40), 1.43 (1.23–1.66) and 1.72 (1.35–2.20, ptrend < 0.001), and per 5 kg/m2 increment was 1.20 (1.13–1.26). The corresponding HRs (95% CIs) for vaginal cancer were 1.05 (0.52–2.15), 1.00, 0.89 (0.71–1.12), 0.95 (0.68–1.34), and 2.01 (1.29–3.13, ptrend < 0.001), respectively, and per 5 kg/m2 was 1.11 (0.99–1.25). The HR (95% CI) per 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI at ages 16–29 was 1.28 (1.07–1.54, n = 250 cases) for vulvar and 1.53 (1.11–2.11, n = 66 cases) for vaginal cancers. The HR (95% CI) per 5 kg/m2 for early-onset (< 50 years age at diagnosis) vulvar cancer was 0.92 (0.66–1.28, n = 87 cases) and 1.70 (1.05–2.76, n = 21 cases) for vaginal cancer.
Conclusion
These results further support the associations between higher BMI and increased risk of vulvar and vaginal cancers, with suggestive stronger associations between BMI in early adulthood for both cancers and for early-onset vaginal cancer. Further studies are needed to elucidate these findings and investigate the underlying mechanisms.
There is limited evidence of potential associations between body mass index (BMI) and risk of vulvar and vaginal cancer. We explored these associations in a large cohort of Norwegian women.
Methods
The analytical dataset included 889,441 women aged 16–75 years at baseline in 1963–1975. Multivariable Cox regression analyses were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between BMI and vulvar and vaginal cancer incidence.
Results
During 30.1 million person-years of follow-up, 1748 incident vulvar and 408 incident vaginal cancer cases occurred. The HRs (95% CIs) for vulvar cancer for a BMI of 15- < 18.5, 18.5- < 25, 25- < 30, 30- < 35, ≥ 35 were 0.62 (0.38–1.01), 1.00 (reference), 1.23 (1.10–1.40), 1.43 (1.23–1.66) and 1.72 (1.35–2.20, ptrend < 0.001), and per 5 kg/m2 increment was 1.20 (1.13–1.26). The corresponding HRs (95% CIs) for vaginal cancer were 1.05 (0.52–2.15), 1.00, 0.89 (0.71–1.12), 0.95 (0.68–1.34), and 2.01 (1.29–3.13, ptrend < 0.001), respectively, and per 5 kg/m2 was 1.11 (0.99–1.25). The HR (95% CI) per 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI at ages 16–29 was 1.28 (1.07–1.54, n = 250 cases) for vulvar and 1.53 (1.11–2.11, n = 66 cases) for vaginal cancers. The HR (95% CI) per 5 kg/m2 for early-onset (< 50 years age at diagnosis) vulvar cancer was 0.92 (0.66–1.28, n = 87 cases) and 1.70 (1.05–2.76, n = 21 cases) for vaginal cancer.
Conclusion
These results further support the associations between higher BMI and increased risk of vulvar and vaginal cancers, with suggestive stronger associations between BMI in early adulthood for both cancers and for early-onset vaginal cancer. Further studies are needed to elucidate these findings and investigate the underlying mechanisms.
Date Issued
2025-02-01
Date Acceptance
2024-10-14
Citation
Cancer Causes and Control, 2025, 36 (2), pp.191-198
ISSN
0957-5243
Publisher
Springer
Start Page
191
End Page
198
Journal / Book Title
Cancer Causes and Control
Volume
36
Issue
2
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2024 Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10552-024-01930-z
Subjects
Body Mass Index
Cohort Studies
Vaginal Neoplasms
Vulvar Neoplasms
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2024-10-27