obesity plays a huge role in breast cancer Nearly 40 percent of hormone-positive breast cancers in postmenopausal women may be linked to excess body fat, according to a study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health on October 15. This is higher than previous estimates which linked excess weight to 1 in 10 breast cancer casesBased on measurements of the women’s body-mass index (BMI), the researchers said.

The researchers argued that the effect of obesity on breast cancer risk has been underestimated because BMI is not a very accurate measure of body fat.

“The findings of this study demonstrate the importance of considering more accurate measures of body fat than BMI to estimate the cancer burden caused by obesity in postmenopausal breast cancer,” said Associate Professor of Epidemiology The research team led by Veronica Davila-Batista concluded. University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in Spain.

For this study, researchers compared BMI with a different measure of body fat, called CUN-BAE, an equation that accounts for gender and age in BMI measurements.

Both measurements were used to weigh 1,022 older Spanish women with breast cancer and another 1,143 women who did not have cancer.

The researchers found that about 23 percent of breast cancer cases were associated with excess body weight, as measured by BMI.

However, about 38 percent of breast cancers were associated with excess fat, as measured by CUN-BAE, the results show.

The researchers said these differences were strongest for hormone-positive cancers, which are driven by female hormones such as estrogen.

Double the risk of hormone-positive breast cancer may be associated with excess fat — 42 percent when using the CUN-BAE equation, versus 20 percent when using BMI.

“The results of our study suggest that excess body fat is an important risk factor for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer in postmenopausal women,” the researchers wrote in a journal news release.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, body fat can increase estrogen levels in women because fat tissue secretes female hormones.

“Our findings suggest that population effects may be underestimated when using traditional BMI estimates, and more accurate measurements of body fat when assessing the cancer burden caused by obesity in post-menopausal breast cancer. Such as CUN-BAE, should be considered.” The research team concluded.

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