Latest news with #HeinzFreisling
Medscape
17-07-2025
- Health
- Medscape
CVD Plus Excess Weight Increases Breast Cancer Risk
Excess body weight is a well-known risk factor for breast cancer in postmenopausal women, but is the risk the same in women who also have cardiovascular disease (CVD) or type 2 diabetes? The short answer is no for CVD and yes for type 2 diabetes, a recent analysis suggested. Women with excess body weight who developed CVD had a significantly higher risk for breast cancer, according to the study, published earlier this month in Cancer . The researchers, led by Heinz Freisling, PhD, reported that each 5 kg/m2 increase in BMI was associated with a 31% higher risk for breast cancer in women who developed CVD vs a 13% higher risk in women without CVD. However, women with excess body weight who developed type 2 diabetes did not have a higher risk for breast cancer than women who did not develop diabetes. These findings indicate that 'weight control/prevention measures are particularly important for women with a history of CVD,' explained Freisling, with the Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization. Research on how cardiometabolic diseases, such as CVD and type 2 diabetes, affect the association between adiposity and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women is limited. Earlier work by the team had found an additive interaction between obesity and CVD and overall cancer risk as well as obesity-related cancer risk but no such additive interaction between obesity and type 2 diabetes with cancer risk. However, the research did not address whether CVD or type 2 diabetes modified the relationship between body weight and breast cancer risk, the researchers noted. In the current analysis, Freisling and colleagues analyzed individual participant data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition and UK Biobank on 168,547 postmenopausal women who did not have cancer, type 2 diabetes, or CVD at the outset. After a median follow-up of nearly 11 years in both cohorts, 6793 postmenopausal women developed breast cancer. Pooled data from both cohorts revealed that, with BMI increases of 5 kg/m2, women who developed CVD had a higher risk for breast cancer (hazard ratio [HR], 1.31) than those who did not develop CVD (HR, 1.13). The combination of overweight (BMI ≥ 25) and CVD was estimated to lead to 1.53 more cases of breast cancer per 1000 people per year than expected. However, type 2 diabetes did not modify the relationship between adiposity and breast cancer risk. What might explain the different associations? 'We know from animal studies that CVD can lead to cancer growth through biological pathways that are not shared with adiposity. For example, a stressed heart muscle releases proteins into the blood stream that can trigger cancer growth,' Freisling said. However, 'we know from other studies that excess adiposity and diabetes affect breast cancer risk through similar biological pathways,' which 'may result in the same increase in cancer risk,' Freisling said. Overall, these findings could inform risk-stratified breast cancer screening programs, Freisling and colleagues noted. But it's unclear how weight loss in women with and without CVD would affect their breast cancer risk. 'This should be investigated in future studies,' Freisling said. Stephanie Bernik, MD, who was not involved in the research, said the findings are 'interesting' but cautioned against drawing any firm conclusions from the study. 'I think the bottom line is we need to look into it a little more deeply and uncover the mechanism for the association,' said Bernik, chief of the breast service at Mount Sinai West and associate professor of surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City. 'For now, perhaps physicians could be more aware that if someone has obesity and cardiovascular disease, they may be at higher risk for breast cancer.'
UPI
08-07-2025
- Health
- UPI
Excess weight hikes risk of health double-whammy among older women
Women past menopause with a higher body mass index were more likely to develop breast cancer if they had heart disease, researchers reported Monday in the journal Cancer. Photo by taniadimas/ Pixabay July 8 (UPI) -- Older women carrying excess weight have a higher risk of a life-threatening double-whammy, a new study says. Women past menopause with a higher body mass index were more likely to develop breast cancer if they had heart disease, researchers reported Monday in the journal Cancer. BMI is an estimate of body fat based on height and weight. Women with heart disease had a 31% increased risk of breast cancer for every 5-point increase in their BMI, results show. By comparison, women without heart problems had a 13% increased risk for every 5-point BMI increase, results show. "This suggests that among postmenopausal women with cardiovascular disease, prevention of obesity may lead to a greater reduction in breast cancer incidence compared to the general population," concluded the research team led by Heinz Freisling, a scientist of nutrition and metabolism with the International Agency for Research on Cancer. For the study, researchers pooled data from two large-scale European health studies - the ongoing UK Biobank research project and the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition. They wound up with data on nearly 169,000 postmenopausal women, including almost 6,800 who developed breast cancer after an average follow-up of nearly 11 years. Researchers estimate that the combination of excess weight and heart disease could cause an additional 153 cases of breast cancer per 100,000. On the other hand, developing type 2 diabetes did not seem to affect women's breast cancer risk, researchers found. "Emerging experimental research suggests that certain types of cardiovascular disease -- such as myocardial infarction [heart attack] -- can accelerate breast cancer growth by reprogramming of the innate immune system," researchers wrote. Proteins secreted after heart failure have been shown to promote tumor formation and accelerate cancer growth, researchers said. "The findings of this study could be used to inform risk-stratified breast cancer screening programs," Freisling said. "This study should also inspire future research to include women with a history of cardiovascular diseases in weight loss trials for breast cancer prevention." More information Harvard Medical School has more on heart disease and breast cancer. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
