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Postmenopausal
women who are obese are at a higher risk of dying from breast
cancer than normal or underweight women, according to researchers
at the American Cancer Society.
Approximately
30 percent of breast cancer deaths in women may be linked
to their weight, according to the study published in the journal
Cancer Causes and Control.
Previous
studies have found that overweight and obese women are at
a higher risk of death from breast cancer. However, most studies
have not been large enough to test the link across a wide
range of body mass and postmenopausal breast cancer deaths,
wrote the researchers.
Investigators
analyzed the relation between body mass index and height and
postmenopausal breast cancer deaths in a study of U.S. adults
enrolled in the American Cancer Society's Cancer Prevention
Study II in 1982.
After
14 years of follow up, 2,852 deaths from breast cancer were
seen among 424,168 postmenopausal women who were cancer-free
at the start of the study.
Researchers
found that death from breast cancer increased with increasing
body mass index. Breast cancer deaths among women 5-foot tall
to 5-foot-6 also increased with each inch, but did not further
increase in women over 5-foot-6.
"Postmenopausal
obesity is an important and potentially avoidable predictor
of fatal breast cancer in this study," concluded the
researchers. "These results underscore the importance
of maintaining moderate weight throughout adult life.
Source:
Breast Cancer
Week of July 7, 2002
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