Large study links sustained weight loss to reduced breast cancer risk
Even a modest amount of sustained weight loss is associated with lower breast cancer risk for women over 50
A large new study finds that women who lost weight after age 50 and kept it off had a lower risk of breast cancer than women whose weight remained stable, helping answer a vexing question in cancer prevention. The reduction in risk increased with the amount of weight lost and was specific to women not using postmenopausal hormones. The study appears in JNCI.
In the United States, more than two in three adult women are overweight or obese. And while high body mass index (BMI) is an established risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer, there has not been adequate evidence to determine if that risk is reversible by losing excess weight.