Being overweight leads to deadly strain of breast cancer

CHICAGO - SCIENTISTS know that being overweight increases the risk of breast cancers fed by estrogen, but being too fat may also increase the risk of triple-negative breast cancers, a less common and far more deadly type, US researchers said on Tuesday.

They said women who are overweight had a 35 per cent higher risk of developing triple-negative breast cancers, an aggressive form of cancer that affects 10 to 20 per cent of cases.

'The fact that we found an association with triple-negative breast cancer is unique because, biologically, this subtype is very different from other breast cancers,' said Amanda Phipps of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Philadelphia, whose study appears in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Smoking, couch-potato lifestyles boost cancer risks

PARIS - TWO studies released on Wednesday highlighted the risks and benefits of lifestyle choices in combating cancer, showing the dangers of smoking for post-menopausal women and exercise's protective effect on the bowel.

Post-menopausal women who smoke, or who used to smoke, face an up to 16-per cent higher risk of developing breast cancer compared to women who have never smoked, according to a paper published online by the British Medical Journal (BMJ).

Women who have been extensively exposed to passive smoking, either as children or in adulthood, could also be at greater risk of breast cancer, it added. However, this apparent risk does not apply to women who were only moderately exposed to second-hand smoke.

Mammograms less accurate in breast cancer survivors

Mammography is less accurate at spotting breast cancer if a woman has had the disease before.

NEW YORK - MAMMOGRAPHY is less accurate at spotting breast cancer if a woman has had the disease before, according to a US government-funded study.

Breast cancer survivors are more likely to develop new tumours than women without a history of breast cancer, but little is known in detail about screening for survivors.