To receive the Femtech World newsletter, sign up here.
News
Study reveals effects of obesity and metabolic syndrome on breast cancer
Women who eat a low-fat diet can decrease their risk of dying from breast cancer by 21 per cent, new findings suggest
A new US study has revealed the effects obesity and metabolic syndrome can have on breast cancer.
Both obesity and metabolic syndrome, a cluster of conditions like high blood pressure and high blood sugar, increase the risk of breast cancer, but in differing ways for different subtypes of the cancer.
A University of Oklahoma researcher helped to lead a study that produced those results, which may help physicians better care for patients at higher risk for breast cancer.
The study is from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), an effort that began in the early 1990s and continues to yield valuable data about postmenopausal women’s risks for cancer, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and other conditions.
The initiative, funded by the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, a component of the National Institutes of Health, is the largest women’s health prevention study ever conducted.
Robert Wild, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the OU College of Medicine, has been involved with the WHI since its beginning and is a co-author of the latest study, published in Cancer.
The research followed another WHI study showing that women who ate a low-fat diet for about eight years decreased their risk of dying from breast cancer by 21 per cent over the next 20 years.
Those findings led researchers to consider whether the reduced risk was related to a decrease in obesity or an improvement in the conditions associated with metabolic syndrome. As it turns out, the answer is both.
“This study shows that obesity had an effect on breast cancer independent of metabolic syndrome, and that metabolic syndrome had an effect on breast cancer independent of obesity,” Wild said. “And they affected various subtypes in different ways, which influenced whether women were diagnosed with breast cancer and whether they died from it.”
The upshot of the study is simpler: keeping both waist circumference and metabolic conditions under control is important to reduce the risk of being diagnosed with breast cancer and the risk of dying from it.
“This study is essentially saying to get back to the basics,” Wild said. “Prevention is important, and we need to be paying attention to both metabolic syndrome and weight.”
Metabolic syndrome includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol or triglycerides, all of which also increase the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The study found that:
- Metabolic syndrome is significantly associated with 53 per cent more deaths after breast cancer and a 44 per cent higher breast cancer mortality.
- Metabolic syndrome is also associated with poor prognosis in two specific types of breast cancer: oestrogen receptor (ER)-positive and progesterone receptor (PR)-negative.
- ER-positive breast cancer occurs when high levels of oestrogen in the breast cancer cells help the cancer grow and spread. This type of cancer represents 70-80 per cent of all breast cancer diagnoses and typically responds well to hormone therapy, which blocks hormones like oestrogen.
- PR-negative breast cancer means the cancer has no hormone receptors and therefore does not respond to hormone therapy. It also tends to grow faster than hormone-positive cancers.
- Obesity status is significantly associated with more total breast cancers and more deaths after breast cancer, with higher mortality only in women with severe obesity.
- Obesity status is also associated with good prognosis in ER-positive and PR-positive cancers. Both can be treated with hormone therapy and tend to grow more slowly than those that are hormone receptor-negative.
Wild said: “The Women’s Health Initiative is the gift that keeps on giving. It is a great opportunity to make use of quality information. In the beginning, I don’t think we knew what a valuable resource it would still be years later.”
Transdermal HRT best protects bone density in women with functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea, a condition that stops periods, a review of trials has found.
The meta-analysis pooled randomised clinical trials involving 692 participants and found transdermal hormone replacement therapy and teriparatide increased bone mineral density by between 2 and 13 per cent.
Functional hypothalamic amenorrhoea can follow anorexia or intense exercise. Bone mineral density measures bone strength and the amount of mineral in bone.
Around half of women with the condition have low bone mineral density, compared with about 1 per cent of healthy women, and their fracture risk is up to seven times higher.
The research was conducted by scientists at Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
Professor Alexander Comninos, senior author of the study and consultant endocrinologist at the trust, said: “Bone density is lost very rapidly in FHA and so addressing bone health early is very important to reduce the lifelong risk of fractures.
“Our study provides much needed comparisons of all the available treatments from all available studies.
“Clearly the best treatment is to restore normal menstrual cycles and therefore oestrogen levels through various psychological, nutritional or exercise interventions – but that is not always possible.
“The foundation for bone health is good calcium and vitamin D intake (through diet and/or supplements) but we have additional treatments that are more effective.”
When FHA is diagnosed, clinicians first try to restore periods through lifestyle measures, including psychological and dietary support, but these can fail. Guidelines then recommend giving oestrogen, though the best form was unclear.
The team reviewed all prior randomised trials comparing therapies, including oral and transdermal oestrogen, and also assessed teriparatide, a prescription bone-building drug used for severe osteoporosis.
They found no significant benefit for oral contraceptive pills or oral hormone therapy.
A recent UK audit reported that about a quarter of women with anorexia-related FHA are prescribed the oral contraceptive pill for bone loss; the study suggests using transdermal therapy instead.
Comninos said: “Our goal is simple: to help women receive the right treatment sooner and to protect their bone health in the long-term.
“We hope this study provides clinicians with better evidence to choose transdermal oestrogen when prescribing oestrogen and so inform future practice guidelines.
“Right now, millions of women with FHA may not be receiving the best treatments for their bone health.”
An AI tool cut interval breast cancers by 12 per cent in a Swedish screening trial of more than 105,000 women.
The study also found 27 per cent fewer aggressive breast cancers detected at screening when AI was used.
Interval cancers are cancers found between routine screening appointments because they were missed at the original scan. They are often more dangerous and linked to higher death rates than cancers found at screening.
The MASAI trial is described as the first large randomised study to test whether AI can improve mammography screening, which uses low-dose X-rays to examine breast tissue for signs of cancer.
The AI tool, called Transpara Detection and developed by ScreenPoint Medical, supported radiologists in analysing mammography images.
Earlier results from the same trial showed that Transpara Detection increased cancers found by 29 per cent and reduced radiologist workload by 44 per cent compared with standard double-reading, where two radiologists independently review each scan.
The latest findings indicate higher accuracy with AI support. Sensitivity, the ability to detect cancer, was 6.7 percentage points higher in the AI group while specificity, the ability to rule out healthy cases, was maintained. Results were similar across age groups and breast density levels.
Women screened with AI had 16 per cent fewer invasive interval cancers and 21 per cent fewer large interval cancers than those in the standard screening group.
The system also helps doctors assess risk more precisely by subdividing suspicious findings into BI-RADS 4 categories A, B and C. BI-RADS (Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System) is a standardised scale that guides whether a patient needs closer monitoring, further tests or treatment.
Ageing anxiety may accelerate biological ageing in women, with fears about worsening health linked to faster epigenetic ageing, according to new research.
The study found that greater anxiety about growing old was associated with accelerated epigenetic ageing, as measured by the DunedinPACE clock, based on biological markers in blood samples.
Epigenetic changes are shifts in how genes are switched on or off without altering DNA itself, which can influence how the body ages and functions.
“Our research suggests that subjective experiences may be driving objective measures of ageing,” said Mariana Rodrigues, a PhD student and the first author of the study.
“Ageing-related anxiety is not merely a psychological concern, but may leave a mark on the body with real health consequences.”
Researchers analysed data from 726 women in the Midlife in the US study.
Participants were asked how much they worried about becoming less attractive with age, having more health issues and being too old to have children.
Blood samples were used to assess ageing with two epigenetic clocks: DunedinPACE, which estimates the pace of biological ageing, and GrimAge2, which estimates cumulative biological damage.
The study was conducted by researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health.
Worrying about declining health showed the strongest links with epigenetic ageing, while anxiety about attractiveness and fertility was not significantly associated with biological markers.
The authors suggest health worries are more common and persist over time, whereas concerns about appearance and reproduction may fade with age.
“Women in midlife may also be multiple in roles, including caring for their ageing parents,” Rodrigues said.
“As they see older family members grow older and become sick, they may worry about whether the same thing will happen to them.”
The authors caution that the study offers a snapshot in time and other factors may influence these biological changes.
When analyses were adjusted for health behaviours such as smoking and alcohol use, the link between ageing anxiety and epigenetic ageing decreased and was no longer significant.
“Our research identifies ageing anxiety as a measurable and modifiable psychological determinant that seems to be shaping ageing biology,” said Adolfo Cuevas, associate professor of social and behavioural sciences and the study’s senior author.
They call for more research to clarify how this anxiety influences ageing over time, to guide support for those experiencing ageing anxiety.
“Ageing is a universal experience.” Rodrigues said.
“We need to start a discourse about how we as a society, through our norms, structural factors and interpersonal relationships, address the challenges of ageing.”
-
Insight4 weeks agoWomen’s health enters a new era – the trends shaping femtech in 2026
-
Insight4 weeks agoDesigner perfumes recalled over banned chemical posing fertility risk
-
Features4 weeks agoBest menopause apps and products for 2026
-
Insight2 weeks agoParents sue IVF clinic after delivering someone else’s baby
-
Menopause3 weeks agoWomen’s health could unlock US$100bn by 2030
-
Insight4 weeks agoHigher maternal blood pressure increases risk of pregnancy complications, study finds
-
Entrepreneur4 weeks agoXella Health closes US$3.7 million in pre-seed financing
-
Events4 weeks agoInside the first wave of speakers confirmed for Women’s Health Week USA 2026