Regular Exercise, Diet And Limited Alcohol Use Lower Breast Cancer Risk
Regular Exercise, Diet And Limited Alcohol Use Lower Breast Cancer Risk
Regular Exercise, Diet And Limited Alcohol Use Lower Breast Cancer Risk
Regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight and drinking less alcohol lowers women’s risk of breast cancer, even in those with a family history of the disease, according to a new study.
University of Rochester Medical Center researchers studied more than 85,000 postmenopausal women beginning in 1993. None of the women had a personal history of breast cancer or a close relative with early-onset breast cancer (before the age of 45).
The women were divided into two groups – those who had a family history of later-onset breast cancer and those who did not. They were also grouped into how they complied with American Cancer Society guidelines. These include exercising for 20 minutes a day, five days a week, maintaining a healthy weight and having no more than one alcoholic drink a day.
The researchers then looked for incidences of invasive breast cancer diagnosed during a mean follow-up period of 5.4 years. The relationship between rates of new invasive breast cancer cases, a family history of late-onset breast cancer and whether either group was modified by the American Cancer Society recommendations, were assessed by the researchers.
Among the women with a family history who adhered to all three healthy behaviors, the rate of invasive breast cancer was 5.94 per 1,000 woman-years compared to 6.97 per 1,000 women-years among women who stuck to none of the recommended behaviors.
Those without a family history who followed the behavior guidelines had an invasive breast cancer rate of 3.91 per 1,000 women years, compared to 4.67 per 1,000 women years for those not adhering to the guidelines.
A report on the study is published in the Oct. 12,2010 online edition of the journal Breast Cancer Research.