Studies: Obesity Increases Breast Cancer Risk in Latina, Black Women

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Two new studies provide compelling evidence that obesity increases the risk of the most common type of postmenopausal breast cancer among both black and Hispanic women, EMaxHealth reports.

The studies, which are being unveiled at the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) annual conference Oct. 29-31, 2014, in Washington, show that associations between body weight and breast cancer risk seen among white women also hold true for black and Hispanic women.

In the first study, researchers at Cancer Prevention Institute of California found that “healthy-weight Hispanic women who gain pounds through adulthood have increased risk for estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR) positive tumors after menopause.”

In the second study, researchers at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey found that black women’s excess weight is linked with a 31% increase of ER positive tumors.

“This is significant because most breast cancer research has been conducted among white women, yet African American and Hispanic women have a higher incidence of the more aggressive types of breast cancer that are more challenging to treat, such as estrogen receptor (ER) negative tumors,” according to the EMaxHealth report. “They are also more likely to die of the breast cancer than white women.”