There's more evidence that obesity can be deadly. A new study shows obese women with early stage breast cancer are at greater risk of dying of their disease.
Researcher Penny Anderson, MD, a radiation oncologist at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, notes that early stage breast cancer is typically curable. But if a woman is obese, breast cancer is more likely to spread to other parts of the body, increasing the risk it cannot be successfully contained and treated, she says.
Speaking here at the annual meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology, Anderson says she hopes the results will help guide treatment programs for obese women with breast cancer. Since the probability of developing both obesity and breast cancer increases with age, "interventions that enhance weight control may have a substantial effect on breast cancer outcome," she notes.
Previous Breast Cancer Studies Contradictory
Previous studies have shown that obesity increases breast cancer risk, Anderson says. But when it comes to how excess weight impacts how a woman overcomes breast cancer, findings have been contradictory.
For the new study, the researchers analyzed data on more than 2,000 women with early (stage I or II) breast cancer who were treated with lumpectomy to remove the tumor and radiation, with or without chemotherapy.
Five years after diagnosis, 88% of the obese women in the study were alive, compared with 92% of those who were either overweight or normal weight, the study showed. Obesity was determined by using the body mass index (BMI), which is an indicator of body fat. To calculate your BMI, you can use WebMD's BMI calculator.
Meanwhile, the cancer spread to other parts of the body in 10% of the obese women versus 7% of women of normal weight.
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