Breast cancer and weight loss

Filed in archive Studies on August 20, 2005

Those susceptible to breast cancer can reduce their risk via weight loss:

Women at a high risk for early-onset breast cancer because of mutations in the BRCA1-gene may be able to cut that risk by two-thirds if they lose weight early in adult life.

That's the conclusion of an international team of researchers, who also found that women with harmful BRCA1 mutations who opt to have two or more pregnancies and who gain 10 or more pounds between the ages of 18 and 30 increase their risk of early-onset breast cancer by about 44%.

(Osterweil, "Weight Loss Cuts Cancer Risk in Women with BRCA Gene", MedPage Today, Aug.19)