Breast cancer sufferers increase their chances of death by gaining weight
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Breast cancer sufferers should avoid gaining weight to boost their chances of survival, it is reported.
According to new research, for every 11 pounds a woman gains after being diagnosed, the chances of the killer disease proving fatal soar by 14 per cent.
The US study is said to be the strongest evidence yet that staying slim can better the odds of survival.
“There was a significant trend between increasing levels of weight gain and higher mortality,” said Hazel Nichols, a doctoral student at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“Lifestyle factors, the things you incorporate after a breast cancer diagnosis such as diet and exercise, do show potential to influence survival.”
Nichols led the study and reported results on Friday at an American Association for Cancer Research conference in Philadelphia. It started with tests on 4,021 cancer patients in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New Hampshire who were diagnosed between 1988 and 2001.
Details about height, weight, family history and breast cancer risk factors were taken and monitored, alongside their lifestyle and exercise habits, for six years. During this time, 121 of the women died from the disease, and 428 died from other causes.
The findings were that for every 11 pounds of weight gain after diagnosis, the risk of death from breast cancer or other causes increased by 14 per cent. And the link remained even after researchers took into account differences in age, menopausal status, smoking and the stage of disease when the women were diagnosed.
For those classed as obese by body mass index – a measure of weight and height – the death risk was more than twice that of women with a normal body weight.
“This was a very well-conducted study at several centres in the United States by well-known researchers on this topic,” said Joanne Dorgan, a breast cancer scientist at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia.
For years, doctors have known that overweight breast cancer sufferers have poorer chances of survival.
“They’re more likely to relapse and to die of their cancer than women who are thinner,” Dorgan said.
Previous research has shown women who exercise after being diagnosed with breast cancer can slash their chance of dying by as much as 50 per cent. However, it’s common for patients to put on weight during treatment – often because chemotherapy can leave them feeling too tired to get active, Dorgan said.
And she added the new research shows it’s crucial to get fit and stay active over the long term.
