All women have some degree of fatty tissue in their breasts, it is what gives them their size and shape. This study is not looking at normal fatty tissue but rather breast fatty tissue in women whose weight classifies them as obese. The study, published in Science Translational Medicine, discovered that the fat from an obese patient adds a “stiffness” that is not found in women of normal weight.
The research shows that precancerous cells grown in this type of fat were much more likely to develop into malignant breast cancer. It is known, from other studies, that once diagnosed, obese women have a poorer prognosis than women whose weight falls into the normal range. There needs to be more study into what this indicates. Are the cancers more aggressive in obese women or do treatments need to be modified?
For all the pink ribbons and awareness, there is still so much we do not understand about the development and progression of this disease. More research is needed; but, we do know that reducing your weight will improve your health overall and reduce your risk of developing breast and other cancers. This is one of the reasons that the physicians of The Woman’s Clinic began the Healthy Me at TWC program.
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