Scientists solve breast and ovarian cancer genetic mystery

Cancer Research UK’s Dr Jason Carroll, who led the study with Professor Wayne Tilley at the University of Adelaide in Australia, said, “We’ve used cutting-edge technology to tease out the crucial role that progesterone receptors play in breast cancer – a mystery that has baffled scientists for many years”.

Now a reason for resistance has been identified, new diagnostic tests will be developed to allow detailed monitoring of breast cancer sufferers before and during sufferers, drastically improving their treatment options.

Results showed that the women who undertook half an hour of fitness a day cut the risk of breast cancer by 4.6 per cent. However doubling that exercise was shown to ward off the disease by 6.9 per cent.

Between 1992 and 2009, 18,555 men and 12,236 women were diagnosed with cancer.

That last finding is important because many physical activity and cancer studies focus on weight as an outcome and correlate pounds lost with cancer risk. These patients tend to respond better to treatment and have a lower risk of relapse, even though they are treated with the same hormone therapy as their ER-positive, PR-negative counterparts.

Those findings suggested that sitting and being less active might affect how metabolic chemicals in the body regulate numerous systems in the body, according to the researchers.

Christine M. Friedenreich, Ph.D., of Alberta Health Services, Canada, and colleagues compared 300 minutes of exercise per week with 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous aerobic exercise for its effect on body fat in 400 inactive postmenopausal women who were evenly split into the two exercise groups.

Over the past few decades, time spent sitting has increased due to several factors, including technological advancements, like computers and video games, and changes in transportation.

Dr. Visvanathan said in an explanation that the increase in weight could predict whether or not an individual is at risk to other chronic illnesses, like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. However, for now, this study provides us with the most up-to-date information about the long-term effects of prolonged sitting on our health.

“Our study finds that despite the health-enhancing benefits of physical activity, this alone may not be enough to reduce the risk for disease”.

The said study was conducted under the leadership of Alpa Patel, an epidemiologist representing the American Cancer Society.