Women who are obese face a nearly doubled risk of developing cancer of the ovaries, reseachers warned today.
New findings link being obese with an 80 per cent increased risk of developing the disease. The findings apply to women who have never taken hormone replacement therapy.
US researchers studied some 94,000 women over the age of 50 over a period of seven years.
The research, published in the journal Cancer, uncovered more than 300 cases of ovarian cancer among the women.
The disease is said to be the deadliest women’s cancer – only 37 per cent of women diagnosed with the disease survive for five years.
Researcher Dr Michael Leitzmann of the US National Cancer Institute said the findings suggest that the effect of obesity on female hormones might explain the findings, at least partly.
The researchers write: "The observed relations between obesity and ovarian cancer risk have relevance for public health programs aimed at reducing obesity in the population."
CANCER; Published Online: January 05, 2009 (DOI: 10.1002/cncr.24086)
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