Apple-shaped women are more at risk of cancer

Apple-shaped women are more at risk of cancer, new research reveals.

Carrying excess abdominal fat makes women more than 50 per cent more likely to develop lung and bowel tumours, a study found.

Having a spare tyre triggers an increase in insulin, which is known to disrupt hormone production, while excess body fat increase chronic inflammation, both of which are linked to cancer, according to experts.

Study author Line Mærsk Staunstrup from Nordic Bioscience and ProScion in Denmark, said: ‘In women, it is known that menopause initiates a shift of body fat toward higher level of abdominal adiposity, which may mediate obesity-related cancer risk.

‘Avoiding central obesity may confer the best protection.’

Apple-shaped women are more at risk of cancer, new research reveals (stock image)

CANCER PATIENTS WHO RELY ON HERBS AND HOMEOPATHY OVER CONVENTIONAL TREATMENT ARE TWO-AND-A-HALF TIMES MORE LIKELY TO DIE

Cancer patients who opt for alternative medicines over conventional treatment are two-and-a-half times more likely to die within five years of diagnosis, research revealed last month.

Among breast cancer sufferers, those who rely on herbs, homeopathy or energy crystals to beat their disease are 5.68 times more at risk of an early death, a study found.

While 41 percent of those receiving conventional treatment for lung cancer survive for at least five years, only 20 percent of those opting for alternative medicines do so, the research adds.

Professor John Bridgewater, an oncologist at University College London Hospital, who was not involved in the study, said: ‘Many patients will often go on special diets, rather than having conventional treatment.

‘But we have no evidence that anyone benefits from these diets, apart from those that collect the fees.’

How the research was carried out

The researchers analysed 5,855 postmenopausal women with a mean age of 71.

At the start of 1999, the study’s participants had their body fat scanned and were classified as having high or low abdominal fat ratios.

The participants had additional scans over a 12-year period.

Their cancer status was determined by assessing their medical records.

Fat stomachs increase cancer risk by more than 50%

Results reveal women carrying fat around their abdomens are over 50 per cent more likely to develop lung or gastrointestinal cancers, such as those affecting the bowel.

BMI and fat percentage are not associated with a heightened tumour risk.

The findings were presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology congress in Madrid.

Ms Mærsk Staunstrup said: ‘In women, it is known that menopause initiates a shift of body fat toward higher level of abdominal adiposity, which may mediate obesity-related cancer risk.

‘Elderly women should be especially aware of their lifestyle when they approach the pre-menopause age.

‘Avoiding central obesity may confer the best protection.’

‘Increases in insulin result in fat accumulation’

Dr Andrea De Censi, from Galliera Hospital in Genova in Italy, who was not involved in the study, added: ‘While obesity has previously been linked to cancer risk, the link to lung cancer is new and intriguing.

‘Increases in insulin result in fat accumulation that is specifically visceral and abdominal.

‘Insulin also has detrimental effects on hormone production, and adipose cells in fat tissue increase chronic inflammation throughout the body, another risk factor for several cancers.

‘These data open the door for clinicians to initiate a number of interventions in obese patients.

‘In addition to fat loss with diet and exercise, there may be a potential role for a diabetes drug, such as metformin, which can lower insulin effects and contribute to cancer prevention.’

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