It is a known fact that obesity has something to do cancer. New research appearing in the journal Cancer comes to underline the idea saying that obesity can increase women’s risk of developing ovarian cancer by over 80 percent.

 

The study was done by researchers at the National Cancer Institute who followed almost 95,000 US women, aged 50 to 71, for an average of seven years.

 

Overall, obese women had a 26 percent higher chance of developing ovarian cancer than women of normal weight. However, things were different when it came to obese women who had never used hormone therapy. The study found they had an 80 percent higher risk of developing ovarian cancer, compared with their normal-weight counterparts.

 

There was no link between body mass index and ovarian cancer among women who had used hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms.

 

Also, the study found that obese women with no history of ovarian cancer had a 36 percent higher risk of developing the disease, although there was no heightened risk in obese women who did have a family history.

 

Ovarian cancer is the fifth leading cancer killer of U.S. women and the leading killer among gynecologic malignancies. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 21,000 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer every year. The bad news is that only 20 percent of ovarian cancers are caught in their earliest, potentially curable stages. Older women and those who have a first-degree relative with the disease are at high risk of developing ovarian cancer.

 

Symptoms that may suggest a woman is at risk of ovarian cancer include abdominal pain, a feeling of fullness after a small meal, having trouble eating, and abdominal bloating.