RESEARCH - Passive and active smoking are both risk factors early breast cancer

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Passive and active smoking are both risk factors early breast cancer

12/2/2005

By: Reuters Health

NEW YORK (Reuters Health), Dec 2 - Results of studies " with thorough passive

smoking exposure assessment " indicate that passive smoking raises the risk

of breast cancer, especially premenopausal disease, to a similar degree as

active smoking.

Dr. C. , of the Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa,

Ontario, examined the association between breast cancer risk and passive and

active smoking in a meta-analysis of 19 published studies that met basic

quality criteria. Results are published in the November issue of the

International Journal of Cancer.

The investigator calculated pooled relative risk estimates for breast cancer

for lifelong nonsmokers with regular passive exposure to smoke and for women

who smoked compared to women who were never regularly exposed to tobacco

smoke.

Long-term regular exposure to passive smoking was associated with an overall

27% increased risk of breast cancer among women who had never smoked.

" More importantly, among the studies that collected the most complete

measures of passive smoking the observed breast cancer risk was increased by

90%, " Dr. said in an interview with Reuters Health. " Studies with

less complete second-hand smoke measures only observed an 8% increase in

risk. "

" The relationship with premenopausal breast cancer risk was stronger --

elevated 68% with long-term regular passive smoking exposure among lifelong

nonsmokers based on 14 studies, " Dr. explained. " The premenopausal

risk was up 119% for the five studies with more complete secondhand smoke

measures. "

Compared to women with neither active nor regular passive smoke exposure,

those who smoked had a 46% increased risk of breast cancer. The risk was

raised 108% in studies with more complete passive exposure assessment. For

studies with less complete passive exposure assessment, the risk was

increased by 15%.

Dr. noted that tobacco smoke exposure was epidemic in many developed

countries for at least the last half century. " In our Canadian breast-ETS

study included in the meta-analysis, we found that more than 50% of women

had reported smoking and another 40% had had regular long-term exposure to

passive smoking, either growing up with parents who smoked, living with a

spouse who smoked or working with smokers, " he said.

" Luckily the landscape is changing rapidly regarding smoking in public

places in North America in particular, but there are still many children,

spouses, and workers being unnecessarily exposed to tobacco smoke daily, "

the investigator stressed. " It is clearly time to redouble efforts to reduce

nonsmokers' exposure to secondhand smoke in all environments, " he concluded.

By Rizzo

Last Updated: 2005-12-02 13:21:52 -0400 (Reuters Health)

http://www.auntminnie.com/index.asp?Sec=sup & Sub=wom & Pag=dis & ItemId=69048 & wf=525

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Mayo Clinic in Rochester

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s Hopkins Medicine

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