Private MD News

Living a healthy lifestyle may decrease likelihood of breast cancer

Category: Female Specific Tests

A recent study published by the University of Colorado Cancer Center found that postmenopausal women who are obese tend to have more aggressive kinds of breast cancer than lean women, reported Medical News Today.

"By using nutrient tracers for fat and sugar, we tracked where the body stored excess calories. In lean models, excess fat and glucose were taken up by the liver, mammary and skeletal tissues. In obese models, excess fat and glucose were taken up by tumors, fueling their growth," said research author Erin Giles, Ph.D.

For the first part of the study, Giles and her colleagues found that obese animals had increased levels of a progesterone receptor that encourages tumor growth. During the next stage, the researchers had gene researchers David Astling and Aik-Choon Tan analyze human breast cancer cells, and they found that the human cells' progesterone receptor was also conducive to the proliferation of tumors.

The response of the tumors when exposed to fat and sugar was similar to the abnormal metabolic response of diabetes, noted Giles. So the researchers used a type 2 diabetes drug known as Metformin on one of the test models. They found that the tumor size shrunk dramatically and the expression of the progesterone receptor was reduced.

According to Medical News Today, Giles and his team concluded that being obese not only enhances a tumor's growth by influencing its metabolic process, but the tumor also has more calories to feed off of, which may encourage its growth. The researchers noted that a healthy diet and frequent exercise could help combat this.

Obesity epidemic
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one-third of adults who were over 65 years old were obese between 2007 and 2010. Earlier statistics from the source also reveal that only 25 percent of adults eat the recommended amount of daily fruits and vegetables, and for adolescents, this number is less than 25 percent. Less than half of all adults get the recommended amount of physical activity.

Breast cancer statistics
According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, nearly one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes and breast cancer has the highest number of fatalities among women, which can be diagnosed with a lab test. Nearly 40,000 people will die from the disease every year. The source also reports that in the recent years there has been less breast cancer incidence in postmenopausal women, which may be attributed to the reduced use of hormone therapy.