Chinese Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer Younger: Why?
Global factors
Differences in public and cultural practices play a huge role in the prevalence of breast cancer in a given country. It’s important for researchers to study specific populations in order to get a handle on what specific factors may be contributing to a pattern. While these more directed research questions are important, there are some factors that seem to contribute to breast cancer on a global scale.
A recent study published in The Oncologist indicated a link between obesity and several different types of cancer, including breast cancer. The risk is especially high for women who are already classified as obese prior to beginning menopause. While there are some drugs such as Tamoxifen which can be used to prevent breast cancer in obese patients, the data suggests that it’s only effective when dealing with estrogen receptor positive or ER+ breast cancer and not ER- breast cancer. These results are being used to caution medical providers against just prescribing drugs like Tamoxifen if they’re not going to work, but they also support a larger narrative surrounding general health and breast cancer. While breast cancer hasn’t been linked to one specific cause, data such as this study further indicate that good overall health such as maintaining a healthy weight as opposed to obesity, can contribute to the likelihood of a patient developing breast cancer or remaining healthy.
You can read more details about this recent study in Breast Cancer News.
