SYDNEY, March 30 (Xinhua) -- An Australian study has found that obesity and alcohol use significantly raise the risk of breast cancer in women as they age.
The team used data from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health to investigate various lifestyle factors and how they may be linked to breast cancer risk in more than 12,700 women aged 45-50, according to a summary published Monday on the Australian Science Media Center website.
Over a 25-year period, 941 of the women were diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the study, led by Australia's University of Sydney.
Researchers found that those who were overweight or obese were more likely to develop breast cancer compared with women at a healthy weight.
The study, published in BMJ Open, found that any level of alcohol consumption increased breast cancer risk, and women without a partner also faced higher odds.
However, the researchers reported that other lifestyle factors studied, such as smoking and the use of hormone replacement therapy, were not linked to a higher risk of breast cancer among these women. ■
