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Last Updated: Aug 1, 2008 - 10:24:18 AM |
A new study indicates that women with a mutation in the gene BRCA1, which predisposes women to breast cancer, should avoid putting weight in early adulthood, especially if they plan to have children.
The study published in the journal Breast Cancer Research found that women with a mutation in BRCA1 were 65 percent less likely to develop breast cancer if they lost weight between 18 and 30 years of age.
In the study, Steven Narod from the University of Toronto, Canada and colleagues from other universities in Canada, the U.S. and Poland surveyed two groups of women with a mutation in one of the breast cancer susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. 1073 women in the first group had breast cancer while 1073 women in the second group did not. Each woman in the first group had the same age, mutated gene, history of ovarian cancer and country origin as a woman in the second group did. The researchers compared two groups for any possible association between the incidence of breast cancer before menopause in women at risk, and weight at 18, 30, and 40 years of age.
The study showed that for women with a mutation in BRCA1 weight loss of more than 10 pounds during the period from age 18 to 30 years was associated with a 65 percent lower risk of breast cancer between ages 30 and 40.
The study also found that women with a mutation in BRCA1 who gained 10 pounds or more between 18 and 30 years of age were 44 percent more likely to develop breast cancer if they had 2 or more children.
Change in body weight between 30 and 40 years of age did not influence the risk of either premenopausal or postmenopausal breast cancer.
There was no significant association between weight loss and breast cancer risk in the women with a mutated BRCA2.
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