Body mass index (BMI): association with clinicopathological factors and outcome of women with newly diagnosed breast cancer in New Zealand
Bridget Robinson, Margaret Currie, Elisabeth Phillips, Gabi Dachs, Matthew Strother, Helen Morrin, Val Davey, Chris Frampton
We studied women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had been recorded on the four Breast Cancer Registers in Auckland, Waikato, Wellington and Christchurch. Just as in the New Zealand population, one-third of these women with breast cancer were overweight and a further one-third were obese. Overweight and obese women tended to have their cancer found on cancer screening, rather than from checking symptoms, and they tended to be larger cancers of higher grade. As has been found overseas, the younger women with the greatest degree of obesity tended to have a poorer outcome when treated with chemotherapy. This argues for ongoing cooperating of women with screening programmes, and aiming to reduce weight and increase physical activity, both in general and after diagnosis of breast cancer.
