New Delhi, July 7
Excess weight may increase the risk of developing breast cancer among postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease, according to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), published on Monday.
Higher body mass index (BMI) is a known risk factor for breast cancer in postmenopausal women. The study, published in the peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society CANCER, unravels how the risk differs among women with and without cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes.
It showed that each 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI was associated with a 31 per cent higher risk of breast cancer in women who developed cardiovascular disease during follow-up and a 13 per cent higher risk in women without cardiovascular disease.
The development of type 2 diabetes did not seem to affect breast cancer risk: women with or without type 2 diabetes had a similarly elevated breast cancer risk related to higher BMI.
“The findings of this study could be used to inform risk-stratified breast cancer screening programmes,” said a team led by Heinz Freisling, from the WHO’s specialised cancer research team, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
The team analysed data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and UK Biobank on 168,547 postmenopausal women who did not have, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease when they agreed to participate.