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Body Mass Index and Risk of Leukemia in Older Women

¹ Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics, ² University of Minnesota Cancer Center and ³ Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and ⁴ Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota

Requests for reprints: Julie A. Ross, University of Minnesota Cancer Center, 420 Delaware Street Southeast, MMC 422, Minneapolis, MN 55455. Phone: 612-626-2902; Fax: 612-626-4842. E-mail: ross{at}epi.umn.edu

Overweight [body mass index (BMI) 25.0-29.9 kg/m²] and obesity (BMI 30 kg/m²) are risk factors for several malignancies. The Iowa Women's Health Study was examined to determine whether increased BMI was associated with leukemia development. Over 40,000 Iowa women (ages 55-69 years) completed a self-administered lifestyle and health questionnaire in 1986 that included current height and weight. Two hundred women developed leukemia during the period 1986 to 2001 including 74 acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) and 88 chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The risk of AML was increased among women who reported being overweight or obese (relative risk, 1.9; 95% confidence interval, 1.0-3.4; relative risk, 2.4; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-4.5; P_trend = 0.006) compared with women of normal weight. There was little evidence of a positive association for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (P_trend = 0.6). Given the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the United States, the population attributable risk of AML due to obesity could approach 30%.

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