Weight loss after menopause tied to lower breast cancer risk

November 14, 2018  17:37

Older women who lose weight may have a lower risk of developing invasive breast cancer than those who maintain or gain weight, a large U.S. study suggests.

While obesity has long been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer, previous research has offered a mixed picture of the potential for weight loss to help reduce that risk. For the current study, researchers assessed weight and height to calculate body mass index (BMI) for more than 61,000 women twice, three years apart.

Then, researchers followed women for an average of 11.4 more years. During this time 3,061 women developed invasive breast cancer.

Compared with women who had stable weight during the initial three years of the study, women who lost at least 5 percent of their body weight during those first three years were 12 percent less likely to develop breast cancer over the next decade or so.

“Our results are consistent with a woman being able to lower their cancer risk, even if they remain overweight or obese after losing some weight, since almost none of the women in our current cohort analysis lost sufficient weight to achieve normal weight,” said lead study author Dr. Rowan Chlebowski of the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California.

“That should be an encouraging result for women since modest sustained weight loss can be achievable by many, while weight loss sufficient to return to a non-obese or overweight category is quite difficult,” Chlebowski said by email.

Full story: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-breastcancer-weightloss/weight-loss-after-menopause-tied-to-lower-breast-cancer-risk-idUSKCN1NF01B?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

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