Kenny
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h9yqCWkZrsfDzG5mk6go54JJjgZQD8TCRHO80
Weight Gain Hurts Breast Cancer Survival
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE – 3 hours ago
Breast cancer patients might have a powerful incentive to avoid gaining
weight: better odds of surviving the disease. New research suggests that
for every 11 pounds a woman gains after being diagnosed with breast cancer,
the chances of it proving fatal go up 14 percent.
The study is by no means definitive, but gives the strongest evidence yet
that controlling weight — a good idea anytime in life — may be especially
important after breast cancer.
"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 Friday at an American
Association for Cancer Research conference in Philadelphia.
Researchers started with 4,021 women in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New
Hampshire who had been diagnosed with breast cancer from 1988 to 2001. They
gave information on their height, weight, family history and breast cancer
risk factors during telephone interviews.
From 1998 to 2001, all survivors were mailed surveys asking for updated
information on these factors and lifestyle habits like exercise and diet.
After an average of six years of followup since their diagnoses, 121 breast
cancer deaths and 428 non-breast cancer deaths had occurred. For every 11
pounds of weight gain after diagnosis, the risk of death from breast cancer
or other causes increased by 14 percent.
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 women classified 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.
The study was paid for by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer
Foundation.
"It's a large study, it was a very well-conducted study at several centers
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.
Doctors have long known that women who are overweight when they are
diagnosed with breast cancer have poorer prospects.
"They're more likely to relapse and to die of their cancer than women who
are thinner," Dorgan said.
Previous research found that women who exercised after being diagnosed with
breast cancer cut their chance of dying by as much as one-half, depending
on how much exercise they did.
However, it is very common for women to gain weight after being diagnosed
with breast cancer. One reason may be that chemotherapy can leave them
tired and ill so they don't feel like exercising, Dorgan said.
The new work shows how important it is to get back on track and keep from
gaining pounds over the long term.
"It still matters what your weight gain is after diagnosis," said Dr. Craig
Thompson, director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of
Pennsylvania.
Weight Gain Hurts Breast Cancer Survival
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE – 3 hours ago
Breast cancer patients might have a powerful incentive to avoid gaining
weight: better odds of surviving the disease. New research suggests that
for every 11 pounds a woman gains after being diagnosed with breast cancer,
the chances of it proving fatal go up 14 percent.
The study is by no means definitive, but gives the strongest evidence yet
that controlling weight — a good idea anytime in life — may be especially
important after breast cancer.
"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 Friday at an American
Association for Cancer Research conference in Philadelphia.
Researchers started with 4,021 women in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New
Hampshire who had been diagnosed with breast cancer from 1988 to 2001. They
gave information on their height, weight, family history and breast cancer
risk factors during telephone interviews.
From 1998 to 2001, all survivors were mailed surveys asking for updated
information on these factors and lifestyle habits like exercise and diet.
After an average of six years of followup since their diagnoses, 121 breast
cancer deaths and 428 non-breast cancer deaths had occurred. For every 11
pounds of weight gain after diagnosis, the risk of death from breast cancer
or other causes increased by 14 percent.
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 women classified 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.
The study was paid for by the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Breast Cancer
Foundation.
"It's a large study, it was a very well-conducted study at several centers
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.
Doctors have long known that women who are overweight when they are
diagnosed with breast cancer have poorer prospects.
"They're more likely to relapse and to die of their cancer than women who
are thinner," Dorgan said.
Previous research found that women who exercised after being diagnosed with
breast cancer cut their chance of dying by as much as one-half, depending
on how much exercise they did.
However, it is very common for women to gain weight after being diagnosed
with breast cancer. One reason may be that chemotherapy can leave them
tired and ill so they don't feel like exercising, Dorgan said.
The new work shows how important it is to get back on track and keep from
gaining pounds over the long term.
"It still matters what your weight gain is after diagnosis," said Dr. Craig
Thompson, director of the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of
Pennsylvania.
