Metabolic syndrome accelerates mortality in cancer patients
The follow-up of more than 183,000 Catalan patients shows that preventing metabolic syndrome is key in the fight against oncological diseases
A study conducted by IDIAPJGol researchers Tomàs López Jiménez, Talita Duarte Salles, Anna Palomar Cros, and Diana Puente, along with Oleguer Plana, a researcher from the Doctoral Program in Biomedical Research Methodology and Public Health at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, concludes that people with cancer who also present metabolic syndrome have a lower life expectancy compared to cancer patients who do not have this condition. The research, published in BMC Public Health, analyzed data from more than 183,000 patients in Catalonia to quantify the impact of metabolic syndrome on survival after a cancer diagnosis.
The results confirm that a higher presence of factors such as obesity, hypertension, or insulin resistance—key features of metabolic syndrome—is associated with a significant reduction in life expectancy.
SIDIAP
The study was conducted using data collected in the Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP) database, which gathers health information from patients treated in primary care in Catalonia. Through this tool, researchers were able to closely monitor patients diagnosed with cancer between 2008 and 2017 and analyze their survival based on the number of metabolic syndrome manifestations they exhibited. The researchers found that 68-year-old men with three or more manifestations of metabolic syndrome have an average life expectancy of 8.9 years, while those without any manifestations reach 13.2 years. In women, this difference is also significant: 11.4 years in patients with advanced metabolic syndrome versus 15.9 years in patients without this condition
Prevention is Key
These findings highlight the importance of preventing and controlling metabolic factors in cancer patients, as improving their life expectancy is possible through strategies such as weight reduction, blood pressure control, and lipid profile improvement.
The study's authors acknowledge that advances in prevention have improved the survival rates of cancer patients with metabolic syndrome. "Early detection of these risk factors and their proper management can be key to reducing mortality and improving the quality of life for these patients, demonstrating the need to incorporate preventive measures into cancer treatment," they state.
Article Reference
López-Jiménez T, Plana-Ripoll O, Duarte-Salles T, Palomar-Cros A, Puente D. The effect between metabolic syndrome and life expectancy after cancer diagnosis: Catalan cohort study. BMC Public Health. 2025 Jan 16;25(1):178. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-21437-9. PMID: 39825260; PMCID: PMC11740694.
