Breast cancer breakthrough: Reducing belly fat could have life-saving effect

Scientists in China have found how women could reduce their risk of getting a rare and hard to treat type of breast cancer.

Researchers found pear shaped women are less likely to develop the disease than women who have an apple-shaped body, Express.co.uk reports, citing the study.

Obese women who have a build-up of fat around their stomachs are more likely to get ER-(negative) breast cancer, a form of the disease that cannot be tackled with hormone blocking drugs.

Those with who accumulated fat around their internal organs known as visceral and measured by belly fat, were predisposed to develop a different subtype of breast cancer than thoset hat accumulated fat more widely around their thighs, hips and buttocks known as subcutaneous.

The study of women from Northern and Eastern China also found that being obese before the menopause raised breast cancer risk in these women.

Obesity is a well-known risk factor for breast cancer and often women at high risk of the disease are prescribed drugs like Tamoxifen.

However, long-term drug use has side effects, and Tamoxifen only works for women whose breast cancer cells have receptors for the hormone oestrogen on their surface - known as ER+.

A cancer is oestrogen-receptor-positive (ER+) if it has receptors for oestrogen and therefore cancer cells that may receive signals from oestrogen hormones that could encourage cancer growth.