HHS HealthBeat (March 28, 2011)

Obese and triple-negative

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Triple-negative breast cancer lacks three important targets for treatment, and often develops faster than other forms of cancer. And a study indicates that obese women are at higher risk of it.

At the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Amanda Phipps examined data on more than 155,700 women in the Women’s Health Initiative. She says obese women had a higher risk of triple-negative – and another type:

``Women who were obese had a 37 percent increased risk of triple-negative breast cancer. And they also had 35 percent increased risk of a more common but less aggressive form of breast cancer known as estrogen receptor-positive.’’ ((11 seconds)

The study in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: May 7, 2011