Young Women's Breast Tissue Offers Clues to Cancer Risk

[Guest guest]

> Young Women's Breast Tissue Offers Clues to Cancer Risk

>

> http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_83574.html

>

> WEDNESDAY, April 29 (HealthDay News) -- Breast cancer risk assessment and

> prevention should start much earlier in life than it currently does, say

> Canadian researchers who examined breast cancer risk factors in young women.

>

> The study of 400 women, ages 15 to 39, and their mothers found that breast

> tissue composition in young women may be associated with their risk for

> breast cancer in middle age and older.

>

> " It is known that the breast is most susceptible to the effects of

> carcinogens at early ages. Our findings suggest that differences in breast

tissue

> composition in early life may be a potential mechanism for this increased

> susceptibility, " wrote a team led by D. Norman Boyd, of the Family

> Institute for Breast Cancer Research, Toronto. By identifying the

> environmental and genetic factors that influence breast tissue composition

early in

> life, we may be able to develop safe and effective methods of prevention. "

>

>

> In this study, the researchers looked at the amount of dense breast tissue

> (mammographic density, or MD), which varies considerably among women and

> is a significant risk factor for breast cancer in middle-aged and older

> women. Experts know that the risk of breast cancer increases as MD

> (mammographic density)

> increases. However, little has been known about the development of MD

> early in life or how the MD of young women is related to their height, weight,

> age, and their mother's MD.

>

> The study authors concluded that a " high degree of mammographic density in

> middle age, when it is a strong risk factor for breast cancer, may arise

> from the subset of the population with the greatest amount of

> fibro-glandular tissue in early life, when susceptibility to potential

carcinogens is

> greatest. Interventions directed at the prevention of breast cancer may

> therefore be more effective if they are started in early life rather than

adult

> life. "

>

>

>

>

**************

Recession-proof vacation ideas. Find free things to do in

the U.S.

(http://travel.aol.com/travel-ideas/domestic/national-tourism-week?ncid=emlcntus\

trav00000002)