Obesity is linked to 40 percent of hormone-positive breast cancers in older women (Image credit: iStock)
Obesity plays a much more important role in breast cancer According to a study published October 15 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, approximately 40 percent of hormone-positive breast cancers in postmenopausal women may be related to excess body fat. This is more than previous estimates that linked excess weight to 1 in 10 breast cancer casesbased on measurements of the women’s body mass index (BMI), the researchers said.
The researchers argued that the impact of obesity on breast cancer risk has likely been underestimated because BMI is not a very accurate measure of body fat.
“The findings of this study show the importance of considering more precise measures of body fat than BMI to estimate the cancer burden attributable to obesity in postmenopausal breast cancer,” concluded the research team led by Verónica Dávila-Batista, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain.
For this study, researchers compared BMI to a different measure of body fat called CUN-BAE, an equation that takes sex and age into account in BMI measurements.
The two measures were used to weigh 1,022 older Spanish women with breast cancer and another 1,143 matched women who did not have cancer.
The researchers found that about 23 percent of breast cancer cases were associated with excess body weight as measured by BMI.
However, about 38 percent of breast cancers were related to excess fat, as measured by the CUN-BAE, the results show.
These differences were strongest in hormone-positive cancers, which are those caused by female hormones such as estrogen, the researchers said.
Double the risk of hormone-positive breast cancer could be related to excess fat when using the CUN-BAE equation: 42 percent, compared to 20 percent when using BMI.
“The results of our study indicate that excess body fat is a significant risk factor for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women,” the researchers wrote in a journal news release.
Body fat can increase estrogen levels in women because fatty tissue secretes the female hormone, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
“Our findings suggest that the population impact may be underestimated when using traditional BMI estimates, and that more precise measures of body fat, such as CUN-BAE, should be considered when estimating the cancer burden attributable to obesity in cancer.” postmenopausal breast cancer,” the report states. concluded the research team.
Disclaimer:
The information contained in this post is for general information purposes only. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the post for any purpose.
We respect the intellectual property rights of content creators. If you are the owner of any material featured on our website and have concerns about its use, please contact us. We are committed to addressing any copyright issues promptly and will remove any material within 2 days of receiving a request from the rightful owner.