14 DAY TRIAL // Large women may pride on their huge breasts. But size is exactly the cause of their end. A new research published in the journal of "Clinical Cancer Research" shows that overweight or obese women with breast cancer experiencea more aggressive condition and have lower survival rates.
"The more obese a patient is, the more aggressive the disease. We are learning that the fat tissue may increase inflammation that leads to more aggressive disease," said co-author Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli, associate professor of medicine in the Department of Breast Medical Oncology at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
The researchers monitored 606 female subjects with locally advanced breast cancer and classified them using their body mass index (weight by height) into 3 categories : normal/underweight (maximum 24.9), overweight (25 to 30) or obese (over 30).
5 years later, the survival rate was 56.8% in the case of the obese women, 56.3% for overweight women and 67.4% for those with a BMI of maximum 24.9. The 10-year survival rate resulted to be 42.7% for obese subjects, 41.8% in the case of overweight women and 56.5 % for normal/underweight women.
Inflammatory breast cancer, linked to worse survival rates compared to non-inflammatory breast cancer, represented 45% of the cases of obese women, 30% in overweight women and just 1 % in normal/underweight women.
The recurrence of the cancer was also more likely in BMI over 25. In 5 years, breast cancer was experienced again by 50.8% of obese women, but only by 38.5% of normal weight women. 10 years later, 58% of the obese women had breast cancer again, compared to 45.4% of the normal weight women.
"Physicians need to pay close attention to breast cancer patients because commonly used drugs, such as tamoxifen, tend to increase weight gain during treatment. Following the nausea, our patients tend to overeat, which further increases their risk of weight gain. We need to implement lifestyle modifications interventions and develop better methods to follow these patients closely," Cristofanilli said.