Obesity may reverse downward trend in breast cancer deaths

Declines in breast cancer death rates in the U.S. may be threatened by a trend among women toward obesity, a risk factor for the disease, according to a report by the American Cancer Society.

The mortality rate in the U.S. continued to drop 2 percent annually from 1996 to 2006, the most recent year with data available, according to a new report.

Women may accelerate that decline by maintaining a healthy body weight, engaging in regular physical activity and minimizing alcohol intake, said Ahmedin Jemal, an epidemiologist with the group and a report co-author.

Failing to adopt that kind of lifestyle "could hurt progress in breast cancer death rates," Jemal said. "The obesity trend is going in the wrong direction."

About 30 percent of people in the U.S. are now obese, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Women who gain 22 pounds or more after menopause face an 18 percent increase in risk for breast cancer, according to a study cited by the cancer society's report. The chance of getting breast cancer within a decade for women age 50 is about 1 in 42 on average, according to the report.

Fewer women may die from breast cancer if more effort were also made to get uninsured women to have yearly mammograms, Jemal said. While 70 percent of insured women over 40 years old have had a mammogram within the last two years, only 33 percent of uninsured females have had one, he said, citing the report's statistics.

Jemal said there is a 98 percent survival rate when the cancer is caught early with regular mammograms. The drop in mortality rates is attributable to early detection and improved treatment, he said.

"From 1989 to 2006, there has been a 30 percent drop in the death rate from breast cancer," he said. "If the rate remained the same, 130,000 more women would have died in these years. I think this progress is huge."