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Prevent Cancer Recurrence Through Healthy Living
June 03, 2025
After a breast cancer diagnosis, you might be worried about how your body will react to cancer treatments. But keeping up with healthy habits might help.
It is very common to gain weight while undergoing breast cancer treatment and Hartford HealthCare doctors coordinate care treatment to improve outcomes for cancer patients, which can be impacted by weight gain and other risk factors.
Marcin Dada, MD, a cardiologist with Hartford HealthCare’s Heart & Vascular Institute at The Hospital of Central Connecticut, and Casey Connors, MD, a breast surgery oncologist at HOCC often work together to help patients maintain a healthy weight throughout the course of their treatment and beyond.
“There are 4 million breast cancer survivors in the United States,” Dr. Dada said. “Most of them don’t die because of breast cancer. Most of them die from complications due to cardiovascular disease.”
Treatments can cause weight gain
Dr. Dada says often treatments for breast cancer, such as chemotherapy and hormone therapy, can cause weight gain as a side effect. Chemotherapy, for example, can put a woman into menopause, and the subsequent loss of estrogen can result in weight gain.
Younger patients, as well as Black, Hispanic and male breast cancer patients, appear to be at higher risk of weight gain.
Coronary artery disease
As a cardiologist, Dr. Dada works with oncologists to help patients manage chemotherapy-related cardiovascular complications, but also encourages a healthy lifestyle during what can be a stressful time of diagnosis and treatment.
“Weight gain can lead to increased risk of coronary artery disease,” he says. A weight gain of more than 5% of a person’s total body weight at the time of diagnosis is an indicator of possible increased risk for development of cardiovascular disease.
Cancer recurrence
Dr. Connors notes “weight gain leads to increased estrogen levels in both pre- and post-menopausal women, which can subsequently increase the rate of a recurrence of cancer.”
According to the National Institute for Health, in a 2012 paper reviewing multiple studies, breast cancer patients with metabolic syndrome, which can include weight gain, elevated insulin and glucose levels, had higher rates of recurrence of breast cancer and worse outcomes after treatment.
Impact on surgical options
“Significant weight gain can also impact surgical procedures,” Dr. Connors added. “Breast reconstruction in morbidly obese patients leads to increased complications, like poor wound healing and infections. So, achieving a healthy body weight prior to surgery gives patients a broader range of surgical options.”
How you can make lifestyle changes
“So, what do we do about it?” Dr. Dada says. “We pay attention to proper lifestyle interventions, which include heart healthy diet and physical activity.”
These are some of the recommendations Dr. Dada encourages patients to consider:
- A diet focused on healthy sources of protein, mostly plants, but also poultry, as well as omega-3 rich fish and seafood (reference to my other article 5 reasons to get more fish and omega-3 in your diet)
- Reduce intake of food with high saturated fats, such as baked goods, red meats and fried food
- Consume only low-fat or fat-free dairy products
- Try to consume minimally processed foods, as well as little to no added sugar products.
Dr. Connors says walking 30 minutes, five days per week, along with two days of integrated strength training, will help patients reach The American Heart Association’s suggested goal of 150 minutes of physical activity per week.
“Your cancer treatment is vital,” Dr. Dada said. “It’s also important that we take care of your heart and the other organs that have to deal with those side effects.”