Breast Cancer Resources Center

Overweight and fat women have greater danger of suffering from breast cancer. The risk after menopause will increase by 4.51-12.38 times. Women of abdominal obesity are usually like spindles, and women with obesity in hip and thigh are pear-shaped. Analysis on 216 breast cancer patients, researchers found that when the waist-hip ratio is greater than 0.77, the relative risk of breast cancer will be three times higher than normal, and will be six times higher when the ratio is over 0.8.

Fat in hips and thighs is not easy to eliminate, but relatively has smaller impact on breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. On the contrary, abdominal fat is easy to eliminate, but has greater potential danger to cardiovascular disease and breast cancer.

The incidence and development of breast cancer relates to estrogen. Apart from the normal ovarian estrogen production, fat tissue in obese women can generate considerable estrogen. The higher level of estrogen will lead to the greater risk of breast cancer.

Long-term intake of high calorie diet lead to overweight and obesity. Women often eat fried foods will increase the risk of breast cancer by 1.6 times. Comparative study on 537 normal persons and patients found that the risk of breast cancer increased by 2.72 times in the women who had more fat intake, and 3.53 times after menopause. Additionally, women with less exercise have more risks of breast cancer due to relative surplus of calories.

The type of fat and breast cancer is closely related. Researchers found that the more intake of animal saturated fatty acid, the more prone to lymph nodes metastasis, and negative in plant unsaturated fatty acid. This means older women consume vegetable oil instead of animal fats, is benefit for the prevention and treatment of breast cancer and coronary heart disease.