Kristy Brown, PhD

Women with excess body weight are more likely to get breast cancer than women with a healthy weight. The effect of excess body weight is especially harmful to women with a family history of breast cancer. Excess body weight can cause many harmful effects to cells. By limiting or reversing these changes, we may be able to prevent breast cancer. We think that exercise or weight loss can decrease the risk of breast cancer by reducing damage to cells. This is very important as it may provide options for women who decide not to get prevention surgery. In the future, we will apply what we have learned to a clinical trial.