1990 Volume 51 Issue 7 Pages 1389-1396
Influence of obesity as a risk factor of breast cancer was assessed by analysing data of 411 women with primary breast cancer who had been operated on for the past 7 years (1982-88) at our department.
It has been inferred that a recent increase in the incidence of breast cancer would be associated with the secular trend for obesity in the elderly women. Moreover, obesity would positively correlate with the metastasis to regional lymphnodes, staging, and redical mastectomy either of the standard or the extended one. These findings were more clearly observed in the group of postmenopausal cancer patients.
Although the positive rate either to estrogen receptors or progesterone receptors in obese patients was not different from that in non-obese patients, the positive rate to progesterone receptors was significantly lower among older patients.
It is suggested that avoidance from getting obese may prevent from breast cancer primarily, secondarily, and even tertiarily.
