How waist-to-hip ratio predicts your risk of deadly BREAST CANCER – and it’s bad news if you’re an apple
APPLE-shaped women like Drew Barrymore and Jennifer Hudson are greater risk of developing a deadlier form of breast cancer, a new study suggests.
And those who pear-shaped like Beyonce and J-Lo, who carry more weight on their thighs, are prone to a more treatable form of the disease.
Those with an apple shape have a high hip to waist ratio, meaning they carry excess weight around their middle.
Experts have regularly warned of the dangers of obesity and its link to 11 different types of cancer, including breast cancer.
But now Chinese experts have discovered a link between a person's body shape and the type of disease they are likely to get.
They found women with a high hip-to-waist ratio were at greater risk of developing ER- (oestrogen receptor negative) breast cancer.
This type of breast cancer is harder to treat as it doesn't respond to hormone therapies.
Pear-shaped women were found to have a higher risk of ER+ (oestrogen receptor positive) breast cancer.
This type of breast cancer is easier to treat as it responds to hormone therapies designed to block oestrogen.
About 70 per cent of breast cancers are ER+ meaning they have receptors for the hormone.
ER- cancers don't have hormone receptors at all, so traditional treatments like chemotherapy need to be used.
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Co-author Zhigang Yu, from Shandong University in China, said: "It was believed that obesity was more strongly related to ER+ than ER- breast cancer.
"A possible reason is that subcutaneous fat [fat stored in the thighs, hips and bum] is involved in oestrogen production, which may promote ER+ breast cancer.
"Visceral fat [fat around the middle] is more closely related to insulin resistance and may be more likely to promote ER- breast cancer."
ER+ breast cancer is commonly treated with a drug called Tamoxifen, but Yu and his colleagues recommend doctors evaluate ER+ cancer risk in obese women before prescribing the drugs as they may not do anything to treat the disease.
He added: "Considering that Tamoxifen cannot prevent ER- breast cancer, women with high waist to hip ratios may not benefit.
"And, more interestingly, it is the different patterns of fat distribution, visceral fat and subcutaneous fat, that may contribute to the distinct effects of obesity type, and this speculation provides a novel perspective for further study as to the interaction between obesity and breast cancer."
HOW TO CALCULATE YOUR HIP TO WAIST RATIO
Your waist to hip ratio is one of several measurements your doctor can use to see if you’re overweight, and if that excess weight is putting your health at risk.
You can work out your waist to hip ratio by dividing your waist circumference by your hip measurement.
Take a tape measure and wrap it around the smallest part of your waist, usually just above your belly button, to get your waist measurement.
Then do the same for your hips.
Then divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement to get your hip to waist ratio.
For example, if your waist is 32 inches and your average hip measurement is 40 inches, then your waist to hip ratio is 0.8.
A ratio above 0.85 for women or 1.0 for men is a sign of obesity and therefore at greater risk of cancer.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in the UK.
One in eight women will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime.
About 5,000 people are diagnosed every month and, while nine in 10 survive breast cancer for five years or more, about 11,400 people die each year in the UK.
Obesity increases a woman's chance of developing the disease.
Gabriel Hortobágyi, a professor in the department of Breast Medical Oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas, said: "Obesity is the greatest public health challenge of the 21st century, with implications for cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and a host of other health conditions.
"As we learn more about the complex aetiology and pathophysiology of obesity, it is becoming clearer that it is not a single pathological entity, but a more complex syndrome with varying implications for health, risk and preventive interventions."
The study was published in the journal The Oncologist.
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