Breast cancer risk triples if waist-to-hip ratio is high
A study of breast cancer patients shows that a larger waist circumference could be one of the main risk factors for the disease.
The study by Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbai that was published in the European Journal of Cancer, showed for the first time that central obesity – a high waist-to-hip ratio or a waist circumference of over 80cm – can increase the risk of breast cancer by 3 times for Indian women.
‘There are several types of breast cancer. Some are dependent on the hormone oestrogen, some occur only in postmenopausal women. There are breast cancers whose risk increases as the woman concerned has children later in life or she lives in an urban setting, and so on,’ said Dr Rajesh Dikshit, one of the main authors of the study and head of the epidemiology department of TMH.
‘However, our study has shown central obesity increases the risk of every type of breast cancer, be it in pre-menopausal or post-menopausal woman,’ Dikshit added.
The study also found body mass index or BMI may not be a good risk indicator of breast cancer for Indian women.
‘”Indians are known to be heavier than Caucasians with the same BMI. So, a woman with normal BMI but high waist-to-hip ratio has a higher risk of breast cancer,’ said Dr Dikshit.
The TMH study also showed women whose weight shot up between 10 to 20 years of age have a relatively higher risk of the disease.
