Cancer Research Lab

Carbohydrate intake, glycemic index, and glycemic load are not associated with the incidence of endometrial cancer, according to findings published in the March issue of the International Journal of Cancer. However, among overweight women with low physical activity, high carbohydrate intake and high glycemic load may increase the risk of this disease.

“Evidence is accumulating that insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia are involved in the etiology of endometrial cancer,” Dr. Susanna C. Larsson and colleagues from Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, write. “Obesity, physical inactivity, and type 2 diabetes mellitus are all associated with insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, and endometrial cancer.”

The researchers studied 61,226 participants of the Swedish Mammography Cohort who were cancer-free at enrollment between 1987 and 1990 and completed a food frequency questionnaire.

The subjects were followed-up for a mean 15.6 years through June 2005. During that time, a total of 608 incident cases of endometrial adenocarcinoma were diagnosed. There was no overall association observed between carbohydrate intake, glycemic index or glycemic load and the incidence of endometrial cancer. For the highest versus the lowest quintiles, the rate ratios (RRs) were 1.12 for carbohydrate intake, 1.00 for glycemic index, and 1.15 for glycemic load.

In a subanalysis of women who completed a follow-up questionnaire in 1997 that included information on physical activity, researchers found a positive association between carbohydrate intake and glycemic load and endometrial cancer among overweight women with low physical activity.

“In summary, in this prospective study, we observed no overall association of carbohydrate intake, glycemic index or glycemic load with endometrial cancer risk,” the authors conclude. “However, our findings suggest that a high carbohydrate intake and a high-glycemic load diet may be associated with an increased risk of endometrial cancer among overweight women with low physical activity.”