HOUSTON, March 14 (UPI) -- Being obese lowers survival rates for women with breast cancer, a University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center study found.
The findings, published in Clinical Cancer Research, also finds the risk of breast cancer recurrence is higher in obese women.
Ar five years, 50.8 percent of obese women report a recurrence compared with 38.5 percent of normal weight women. At 10 years, the rate of recurrence is 58 percent among obese women and 45.4 percent among normal weight women.
"The more obese a patient is, the more aggressive the disease," study leader Dr. Massimo Cristofanilli said in a statement. "We are learning that the fat tissue may increase inflammation that leads to more aggressive disease."
The researchers observed 606 women with locally advanced breast cancer. These women were classified by body mass index into three groups: normal/underweight (BMI 24.9 or below), overweight (BMI at least 25 but less than 30) or obese (BMI more than 30)
The study also found the rate of inflammatory breast cancer -- known to have worse outcomes than non-inflammatory breast cancer -- among obese women is 45 percent compared with 30 percent in overweight women and15 percent in women considered normal weight.
