Researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical center looked at data from 216 women with ovarian cancer. Within this group, 35 were considered obese, meaning they had a BMI over 30, and 108 were of a more ideal weight. Comparing the two groups, those who were obese had significant differences in the type of tumors found in the ovary, which led to a higher rate of recurrence and mortality for this group.
“This study is the first to identify weight as an independent factor in ovarian cancer in disease progression and overall survival,” said Dr. Andrew Li, lead study author.
In fact, Li found that for every 1 excess unit of BMI, a woman’s risk of dying from ovarian cancer increases by 5 percent.
“That means a woman who is 5 units of BMI over normal weight has a 25 percent greater chance of dying from this disease,” said Li.
All of the women in the study received an appropriate treatment, and while a few may not have been given a large enough dose of chemotherapy for their weight, Li does not think this small problem would lead to this large of a risk factor. In fact, he believes that there is some compound in fat itself that may influence ovarian cancer cells. “The next steps will be to examine this relationship more closely,” added Li.
For now, this study offers one more reason for obese women to try to drop some pounds.
“Obesity contributes to so many diseases, this is just another reason for women to lead a healthy life,” said Li.
