doi: 10.23137/AOM24.03.RA0005 Citation BibTeX RIS Mendeley

Obesity of Breast Cancer Survivors

유방암 생존자와 비만

• Sunmi Yoo (Department of Family Medicine, Inje University Haeundae Paik Hospital, Busan, Korea)

Obesity is a known risk factor for breast cancer, especially in postmenopausal women. The pathophysiology of breast cancer involves estrogen production in adipose tissue after menopause, leptin-mediated tumor cell proliferation, chronic inflammation, and insulin resistance. Obesity can also develop post-diagnosis and during treatment, with younger premenopausal women being more susceptible to weight gain. Weight gain is more common in women who were administered certain chemotherapy regimens. Although endocrine therapies such as tamoxifen or aromatase inhibitors do not significantly contribute to weight gain, these could elevate the risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Further, the incidence of lymphoedema, cancer recurrence, and mortality is higher in breast cancer survivors with obesity compared to normal weight breast cancer survivors. Multidisciplinary interventions that incorporate dietary modification, physical activity, and psychosocial support are beneficial for weight reduction and improve quality of life. Therefore, weight management strategies should be integrated early in breast cancer treatment protocols. Further research is needed to determine whether obesity interventions can mitigate breast cancer recurrence or mortality, assess long-term weight loss maintenance, and identify optimal body mass index targets to minimize complications. High quality, longitudinal intervention studies are warranted to enhance outcomes for survivors of and patients with breast cancer.