14 DAY TRIAL // Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Montefiore Medical Center, in Bronx, New York, say that every extra pound makes it easier for the most common type of breast cancer to reoccur in women, despite the patients being treated with the best available medication and therapies.
Interestingly, the link also extends to women that are cataloged as overweight, but not obese. The AECM group believes that hormonal changes associated with the extra weight may be exploited by the molecular pathways tumors use to multiply and grow.
“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,” the team explains.
The work is detailed in the latest online issue of the American Cancer Society's journal CANCER, Science Blog reports. The team suspects that the inflammation endemic to obesity may play a role, too.