Reducing the Risk of Getting Breast Cancer

Study Reveals Importance of Lifestyle Changes

Sep 2, 2009

Four out of ten cases of breast cancer could be prevented by taking regular exercise, reducing alcohol intake and keeping to a healthy BMI, according to scientists.

Breast cancer can be linked to your genetic inheritance; women carrying mutations in the BRCA 1 or 2 genes have a lifetime risk of 80%. But only about 5-10% of breast cancers appear to be hereditary. Environmental influences play a large role. The incidence of breast cancer is rising in the developed world and this has been connected to higher levels of obesity and increased alcohol consumption.

How Does Your Lifestyle Affect Your Breast Cancer Risk?

In 2003, scientists revealed that obese women are more likely to develop breast cancer and showed that a hormonal trigger was the link. Obesity causes an increase of oestrogens in the body and it is the build-up of a type of oestrogen called oestradiol that is particularly associated with increased risk of breast cancer.

As far as drinking is concerned, even small amounts of alcohol can increase your risk of breast cancer. Studies have found that every alcohol unit drunk a day increases the risk of breast cancer by 7-11%. Alcohol also seems to increase the levels of oestrogens in the body.

Now, the biggest review of research into the disease by the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) and the American Institute of Cancer Research has shown that 40% of breast cancer cases could be prevented if women watched their weight, curbed alcohol consumption and exercised regularly.

Lifestyle Changes to Decrease your Risk of Breast Cancer

The WCRF recommends aiming for a BMI of 18-25, with the ideal being the lower end of that range. In addition, women should exercise at least 30 minutes a day. By exercising regularly, women reduce the amount of fat which can store hormones in their bodies. Similarly, women are recommended to limit alcohol to one unit a day.

Breastfeeding also seems to have a protective affect, an area of concern in the UK where breastfeeding levels are some of the lowest in Europe. Only 45% of infants are exclusively breastfed a week after birth.

The conclusions in the latest study by scientists at Imperial College, London were drawn from a total of 954 studies of breast cancer. Many cancers have an environmental trigger and the WRCF plan to update data on bowel cancer and prostate cancer by 2010. This is part of their program, the Continuous Update Project, to allow individuals to make the right lifestyle choices to minimise the risk of developing many types of cancers.

Having a healthy lifestyle doesn’t mean a woman won’t get breast cancer but this latest study produces the strongest evidence yet that the risk is substantially reduced.

Sources

Key, TJ et al (2003). Body mass index, serum sex hormones, and breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 95 (16): p. 1218-26.

Zhang, S.M., et al (2007). Alcohol consumption and breast cancer risk in the Women's Health Study. American Journal of Epidemiology. 165(6): p. 667-76.

The molecular basis of human cancer. Edited by Coleman and Tsongalis. Humana Press (2002),

The copyright of the article Reducing the Risk of Getting Breast Cancer in Breast Health is owned by Catherine Whitlock. Permission to republish Reducing the Risk of Getting Breast Cancer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.