Thursday, July 31, 2008

Obesity Increases Risk Of Certain Ovarian Cancers

“Obesity increases the risk of invasive clear cell ovarian cancer, a subcategory of ovarian cancer that is difficult to treat, according to Australian researchers. In the International Journal of Cancer, Dr. Catherine M. Olsen of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Herston, and colleagues note that the association between body mass index (BMI), weight gain and different ovarian cancer subtypes has been unclear. To investigate further, the researchers studied data for 1,269 women newly diagnosed with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer, 311 women with borderline ovarian tumors and 1,509 ‘controls’ without ovarian disease. The team found that obesity was associated with more than twice the risk of clear cell tumors, but not with endometrioid or mucinous tumors. There was no association with invasive serous tumors overall, but obesity was linked with close to three-times the risk of serous peritoneal tumors. For women with the borderline tumor subtypes, obesity was positively associated with serous tumors. ‘The study findings,’ Olsen told Reuters Health, ‘suggest that obesity may increase a woman's risk of developing some types of ovarian cancer.’ ‘This therefore potentially offers women an opportunity to reduce their risk of ovarian cancer in addition to the numerous other chronic diseases associated with obesity,’ she concluded.”

http://www.reutershealth.com/archive/2008/07/30/eline/links/20080730elin031.html

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