Overweight women at increased risk of advanced breast cancer

A nationwide study of over 280,000 women showed that postmenopausal women who are overweight or obese have advanced breast cancer at significantly higher rates than women of normal weight or less than normal weight. From 1996 to 2005, researchers collected ongoing mammography data on 287,115 postmenopausal women who were not using postmenopausal hormone therapy. They found that overall breast cancer rates went up in direct relationship to weight, as did rates of advanced cancer – specifically, rates of large invasive tumors, advanced-stage tumors, and high nuclear grade tumors. Nuclear grade is a measure of tumor cell growth and rate of cell division; the higher the grade, the more aggressive the tumor.