BMI was more strongly associated with breast cancer risk in women with versus without cardiovascular disease
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
MONDAY, July 7, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Women with cardiovascular disease (CVD) have a substantially higher adiposity-associated risk for breast cancer, according to a study published online July 7 in Cancer.
Emma Fontvieille, Ph.D., from the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, and colleagues studied individual participant data from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and the U.K. Biobank (UKB) for 168,547 postmenopausal women who were free from cancer, type 2 diabetes (T2D), and CVD at recruitment. The authors sought to examine whether the association of body mass index (BMI) with breast cancer risk differs among women with and without CVD and T2D.
A total of 6,793 postmenopausal women developed breast cancer after a median follow-up of 10.7 years in EPIC and 10.9 years in UKB. In the meta-analysis of both cohorts, the researchers found that BMI was more strongly associated with breast cancer risk in women with versus without CVD (hazard ratio, 1.31 versus 1.13 per one standard deviation increment). Breast cancer risk was not modified by T2D. There were 1.53 more cases of breast cancer per 1,000 person-years than expected with the meta-analyzed joint association of overweight or obesity and CVD, while no such joint association was seen for T2D.
“The findings of this study could be used to inform risk-stratified breast cancer screening programs,” lead author Heinz Freisling, Ph.D., also from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, said in a statement. “This study should also inspire future research to include women with a history of cardiovascular diseases in weight loss trials for breast cancer prevention.”
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