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(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Carrying extra pounds puts women at greater risk for many types of cancer, but despite these risks, many overweight women appear to be less likely to receive important cancer screenings.
Thats the key finding from University of North Carolina researchers who analyzed 32 previous studies on breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening. Overall, white women who were heavier were significantly less likely than normal weight white women to receive either Pap smears to test for cervical cancer or mammograms to screen for breast cancer. Weight didnt appear to affect screening rates for colorectal cancer.
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The review didnt reveal similar findings for black women, but the authors note fewer of the studies actually included separate data on black women.
Statistics show the number of overweight women is on the rise. In white women, the percentage grew from 39 percent to 57 percent between 1976 and 2004. In black women, the percentages went from 63 percent to 80 percent during the same time frame. Researchers publishing in a recent issue of The New England Journal of Medicine found 20 percent of all cancer deaths in 2000 could be chalked up to obesity.
Obesity is increasing, and so is the evidence that obesity increases the risk of certain cancers like colorectal cancer and post-menopausal breast cancer, study author Sarah S. Cohen, a graduate student at UNC, was quoted as saying. Its a disturbing trend, then, to see that women who are at increased risk of cancer because of their body size are less likely to be receiving screening tests that can detect cancer early, when it is treatable.
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SOURCE: To be published in the May 1, 2008 issue of Cancer
This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to: http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.
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