Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39609539›Full record

SynthesisBritish journal of cancer2025

Normal weight obesity, circulating biomarkers and risk of breast cancer: a prospective cohort study and meta-analysis.

Wenjie Wang, Xiaoyan Wang, Ying Jiang, Yingying Guo, Peifen Fu, Wei He, Xiaohua Fu

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in British journal of cancer, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
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  5. BMI and Breast Subcutaneous Fat: Potential Indicators for Ultrasound Diagnosis of Breast Cancer?Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Wenjie WangDepartment of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Xiaoyan WangDepartment of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Ying JiangDepartment of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Yingying GuoDepartment of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Peifen FuDepartment of Breast Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. fupeifen@zju.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2988-0502
Wei HeDepartment of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. zjuhewei@zju.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0161-3274
Xiaohua FuReproductive Medicine Center, Department of Reproductive Endocrinology, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Affiliated People's Hospital, Hangzhou Medical College, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. fuxiaohua@hmc.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1676-5932

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIndividuals with normal weight obesity (NWO) often escape the attention of healthcare providers who may assume that a normal body mass index (BMI) correlates with low health risks. However, it remains unknown whether NWO increases the risk of breast cancer.

methodsThis study included 22,257 and 52,506 pre- and postmenopausal females with normal BMI in the UK Biobank. NWO was defined as participants with a normal BMI (18.5-24.9 kg/m2) and an excess percent body fat (PBF > 33.3%). Cox proportional hazard models were used to investigate the associations of NWO and NWO-related biomarkers with incident breast cancer.

resultsNWO was not associated with premenopausal breast cancer, whereas it was associated with a higher risk of postmenopausal breast cancer (hazard ratio = 1.19, 95% CI: 1.08-1.31). In our meta-analysis, per 5-unit increment in percent body fat level was linked to a 15% (95% CI: 10-19%) elevated risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in females with normal BMI. Stratified analyses showed a stronger positive association in females with higher genetic risk. In our NWO-biomarkers analyses, NWO was linked to 34 identified biomarkers, of which three inflammation markers (monocyte count, neutrophil count, and C-reactive protein), and one ketone body metabolite (β-Hydroxybutyrate) also indicated a positive association with postmenopausal breast cancer.

conclusionsNWO is associated with an increased risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, indicating that relying solely on BMI neglects the higher risk faced by non-obese postmenopausal women.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorBreast NeoplasmsObesityAdultAgedBody Mass IndexFemaleHumansMiddle AgedPostmenopausePremenopauseProspective StudiesRisk FactorsBiomarkers, Tumor

Identifiers

PMID39609539
PMCPMC11747320

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.