Are Obese Women Getting Short-Changed By Chemotherapy
Treatments?
How much chemotherapy does an obese woman need? Typically an
obese woman with breast cancer would receive reduced doses of
chemotherapy as they battle breast cancer. Back in June of 2005,
a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine concluded
that obese women should receive chemotherapy based on actual
women, and not in reduced amounts as the standard practice.
And now again a study presented in the August 2005 edition of
Lancet claims that doctors should not reduce chemotherapy doses
for obese women when no receptors for the hormone oestrogen have
been found on the breast cancer cells. This type of cancer is
called oestrogen-receptor negative.
Clinicians often reduce chemotherapy doses for obese patients
because of worries about how the treatment may react with the
patient and affect their overall health.
According to the study