The relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and breast cancer: a retrospective case-control study

Abstract

Aim: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women and is one of the main causes of death in women. It is known that some metabolic components that are risk factors for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are also risk factors for breast cancer. The aim of this retrospective cohort study was to show the prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease breast cancer patients and the effect of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease on breast cancer development through comparisons with a control group with normal mammography. Material and Method: The study included 108 patients who were operated on for breast cancer in the general surgery clinic of our hospital between January 2015 and December 2018 and who underwent abdominal ultrasound for breast cancer staging. A control group was formed of 102 women with benign breast lesions on routine mammography and who underwent abdominal ultrasound within 6 months before mammography. The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia and body mass indexes were similar in both groups. Results: In the evaluation of all the study participants, an association was found between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and breast cancer. In the obese and non-obese subgroups, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was significantly associated with breast cancer in the non-obese subgroup. [OR 2.67%, 95% confidence interval [95% CI) 1.1-6.0, p=0.020]. Conclusion: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease was seen to be significantly associated with breast cancer regardless of known risk factors. This relationship there was in non-obese women with NAFLD, but not in the obese group.

Keywords

• Breast cancer
• nonalcholic fatty liver disease
• non-obese women

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