Obesity Increases Risk To Uterine And Breast Cancer

One major study says obesity or excess weight is most strongly linked to cancer of the uterine lining and breast cancer. The study estimated that an overweight woman has twice the risk of developing cancer than a lean one, once she becomes obese, the risk as much as 3.5 to 5-fold. Fat cells apparently play a role that can spur the cancer growth.

“Fat cells are not just static storage depots,” explains American Cancer Society epidemiologist Eugenia Calle. The worst, because it’s most metabolically active, is visceral fat, the kind that builds up in the abdomen and sorrounds organ there.

Fat cells also make estrogen, which fuels breast cancer. After menopause, fat becomes a woman’s leading source of estrogen. While anti-estrogen therapies are common, the fatter a woman is, the harder it is to lower hormone levels, one reason the obese have at least a 50 percent greater chance of dying from breast cancer than lean patients, Calle says.