Obese and overweight women face increased risk of recurrence of most common type of breast cancer

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-08/w-oao082212.php

Public release date: 27-Aug-2012
Contact: Amy Molnar

Extra pounds—even within the overweight but not obese range—are linked to a higher risk of recurrence of the most common type of breast cancer despite optimal cancer treatment, according to a new study published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The study's results suggest that extra body fat causes hormonal changes and inflammation that may drive some cases of breast cancer to spread and recur despite treatment.

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The researchers found that increasing body mass index—a measure of the body's fat content—significantly increased women's risk of cancer recurrence and death, despite optimal treatment including chemotherapy and hormonal therapy. There was a stepwise relationship between increasing body mass index and poor outcomes only in women with hormone receptor–positive breast cancer, the most common type of breast cancer that accounts for approximately two-thirds of all breast cancer cases in the United States and worldwide.

"We found that obesity at diagnosis of breast cancer is associated with about a 30 percent higher risk of recurrence and a nearly 50 percent higher risk of death despite optimal treatment," said Dr. Sparano.