Reduce Your Risk

LOSING EXTRA KILOS CAN HELP TO LOWER YOUR CHANCES OF GETTING BREAST CANCER

Scientists don’t really understand what causes breast cancer, but they have been able to pinpoint some of the factors that increase our risk of getting it.

As much as we don’t want to hear this, we have to face up to the fact that being overweight or obese is one of the things that makes us more likely to develop the disease, which is diagnosed in around 3300 Kiwi women every year.

Many studies have shown that there’s a link between carrying excess weight – and in particular surplus body fat – and breast cancer caused by hormones.

Being overweight is particularly risky if you’ve been through menopause. It also increases the chances of the cancer returning if you’ve already been diagnosed with the disease.

So losing weight is a no-brainer, but as everyone knows, that is easier said than done. Still, there’s some good news: exercise may be able to help reduce your risk. Not only may it help you to lose some of those extra kilos, but it seems it works in other ways to help lower your chances of getting breast cancer, or of it coming back again after treatment.

Here’s what we know now about weight, exercise and breast cancer.

HAVING EXCESS BODY FAT INCREASES YOUR RISK OF BREAST CANCER

We know about the association between body fat and breast cancer thanks to many studies that have been carried out over the years. They’ve revealed that fat cells don’t just sit there taking up space – they are biologically active and produce the hormone oestrogen. Too much oestrogen can trigger the development and growth of breast cancer cells.

The type of cancer caused by too much oestrogen is known as hormone receptor-positive cancer, or ER-positive. Around 80% of breast cancers are ER-positive.