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A new study has revealed that obesity and smoking can increase the risk of breast cancer in women.
Published in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology, the study is unique because women diagnosed with BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which predispose women to breast cancer, are not included in the study.
The lifestyle factors like smoking, exercise, nutrition and weight were the major focus of the study.
All women analyzed in the study had direct ancestors of the first French colonists.
"To our knowledge, this is the first study conducted on a sample of women without BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which are often found in French-Canadian women," said lead researcher Vishnee Bissonauth, a graduate of the Universite de Montreal's Department of Nutrition, and a researcher at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital Research Center.
The study has proved tat women who put on weight after 20 years are more prone to breast cancer.
Where the weight gain was more than 15.5 kilos, the risk was found to increase by an average of 68 percent.
Risk increases depending on how late in life the weight gain occurs, according to the study.
The study showed that the risk tripled if the body mass index was at its maximum after age 50.
Smoking a pack a day for nine years was also found to up the risk of breast cancer by 59%.
"Cancer is a complex disease and can be latent for several years. Therefore, it is important to work on the factors we can control and to lead a healthy lifestyle, which means watching one's weight, avoid smoking and doing regular exercise," said Bissonauth.
