Avoiding weight gain important after breast cancer
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who put on weight after being diagnosed with breast cancer substantially increase their risk of dying, research suggests.
"Our results generally support the recognized health benefits and potentially a mortality reduction associated with avoiding weight gain after breast cancer diagnosis," Dr. Hazel B. Nichols told the Sixth International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention, sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research.
The results "add to a growing body of evidence that post-diagnosis lifestyle factors - the things that you incorporate after a breast cancer diagnosis, such as diet and exercise -- do have potential to improve survival," added Nichols, from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore.
The study involved 4,021 women diagnosed with breast cancer between 1988 and 2001. In 1998-2001, all surviving women provided details about their change in weight, physical activity, diet and lifestyle.
After an average of about 6 years of follow up, 121 women died of breast cancer and 428 died of other causes.
"What we found -- not surprisingly -- was that as BMI (body mass index) and weight gain increased, the risk of death from breast cancer and other causes also went up," Nichols told the conference. "For every 5 kilograms (11 pounds) of weight gain, the risk of death went up by 14 percent."
Women who reported gaining more than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) since their breast cancer diagnosis had approximately an 80-percent increase in their risk of death; women who had a BMI in the obese range after diagnosis had more than twice the risk of breast cancer mortality compared to women with a normal BMI.
"These findings suggest that efforts towards preventing post-diagnosis weight gain may positively affect breast cancer survival," Nichols and colleagues conclude in a meeting abstract.
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What breastcancer.org says about this article…
Avoiding weight gain important after breast cancer
The study reviewed here reinforces earlier research results: gaining a lot of weight (22 pounds or more) after being diagnosed with breast cancer increases the risk of dying from breast cancer.
Researchers don't completely understand how gaining weight makes a breast cancer prognosis worse. It's likely because of a number of factors. Extra body fat can increase levels of hormones such as estrogen. Estrogen can stimulate breast cancer growth. Research also suggests that higher than average insulin levels (insulin is a hormone, too) also may cause breast cancer cells to grow. Higher insulin levels are associated with diets and lifestyles considered less healthy: eating a lot of fat and sugar and getting little or no exercise. In general, maintaining a healthy weight is good for your overall health and well-being, both physical and emotional.
Many women do gain weight during and after breast cancer treatment. This is especially true for women who get chemotherapy and/or hormonal therapy. Chemotherapy can cause early menopause, which makes it much easier to gain weight. But there are many other reasons women gain weight after diagnosis:
- the shock of diagnosis
- disruptions because of doctor's appointments, treatments, etc.
- emotional stress
- recovering from surgery and radiation
- juggling work and personal relationships
- financial stress
- being less physically active
If you've been diagnosed with breast cancer, try to make exercise and a healthy diet part of your daily routine. Think of eating well and working out as important parts of your treatment plan. If you've gained some weight, you might want to talk to your doctors or a registered dietitian to develop a healthy eating plan designed specifically for you and your needs. Losing weight is hard to do. But it can be done with exercise and careful diet changes. Be nice to yourself; don't punish yourself. Always tell your doctor about any new diet or exercise plans you have.
In the breastcancer.org Nutrition section, the Eating to Lose Weight After Treatment pages can help you asses your weight and create a healthy eating and exercise plan to reach and maintain a healthy weight.