(no subject)

[Guest guest]

> The American Cancer Society has corroborated this fact - that women who

> have kids after age 30, and those who have no children are at a higher

> risk for breast cancer. You can read more about it on their website.

 

It is not exactly as you are writing, but still to give some neutral

information I have downloaded some parts of the information here. It is also

a quite complicated matter. Those who are interested can visit

www.cancer.org

 

Your servant,

Premanjana das

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What Causes Cancer?

 

In many cases, the exact cause of cancer remains a mystery. We know that

certain changes in our cells can cause cancer to start, but we don't yet

know exactly how this happens. Many scientists are studying this problem

 

 

Who Gets Cancer?

 

Over one million people get cancer each year. Approximately one out of every

two American men and one out of every three American women will have some

type of cancer at some point during their lifetime. Anyone can get cancer at

any age; however, about 77% of all cancers are diagnosed in people age of 55

and older. Although cancer occurs in Americans of all racial and ethnic

groups, the rate of cancer occurrence (called the incidence rate) varies

from group to group.

 

 

What Are the Risk Factors for Cancer?

 

A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of getting a

disease. Some risk factors can be changed, and others cannot. Risk factors

for cancer can include a person's age, sex, and family medical history.

Others are linked to cancer-causing factors in the environment. Still others

are related to lifestyle choices such as tobacco and alcohol use, diet, and

sun exposure.

 

Having a risk factor for cancer means that a person is more likely to

develop the disease at some point in their lives. However, having one or

more risk factors does not necessarily mean that a person will get cancer.

Some people with one or more risk factors never develop the disease, while

other people who do develop cancer have no apparent risk factors. Even when

a person who has a risk factor is diagnosed with cancer, there is no way to

prove that the risk factor actually caused the cancer.

 

Different kinds of cancer have different risk factors. Some of the major

risk factors include the following:

 

* Cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bladder, kidney, cervix esophagus, and

pancreas are related to tobacco use, including cigarettes, cigars, chewing

tobacco, and snuff. Smoking alone causes one-third of all cancer deaths.

* Skin cancer is related to unprotected exposure to strong sunlight.

* Breast cancer risk factors include several factors: age; changes in

hormone levels throughout life, such as age at first menstruation, number of

pregnancies, and age at menopause; obesity; and physical activity. Some

studies have also shown a connection between alcohol consumption and an

increased risk of breast cancer. Also, women with a mother or sister who

have had breast cancer are more likely to develop the disease themselves.

* While all men are at risk for prostate cancer, several factors can

increase the chances of developing the disease, such as age, race, and diet.

The chance of getting prostate cancer goes up with age. Prostate cancer is

more common among African-American men than among white men. (We do not yet

know why this is so.) A high-fat diet may play a part in causing prostate

cancer. Also, men with a father or brother who have had prostate cancer are

more likely to get prostate cancer themselves.

 

Overall, environmental factors, defined broadly to include tobacco use,

diet, and infectious diseases, as well as chemicals and radiation cause an

estimated 75% of all cancer cases in the United States. Among these factors,

tobacco use, unhealthy diet, and physical activity are more likely to affect

personal cancer risk. Research shows that about one-third of all cancer

deaths are related to dietary factors and lack of physical activity in

adulthood.

 

All women are at risk for breast cancer and the risk increases as women get

older, especially after age 40. Some women have certain factors that

increase their likelihood of breast cancer more than most women. The

evidence available for women at increased risk is only sufficient to offer

general guidance to help women and their doctors make more informed

decisions about finding breast cancer early. Women should discuss with their

doctor what approaches are best for them.

 

 

What Are the Risk Factors for Breast Cancer?

 

A risk factor is anything that increases a person's chance of getting a

disease. Different cancers have different risk factors. For example,

unprotected exposure to strong sunlight is a risk factor for skin cancer.

Smoking is a risk factor for cancers of the lung, mouth, larynx, bladder,

kidney, and several other organs.

 

But having a risk factor, or even several, does not necessarily mean that a

person will get the disease. Some women with one or more breast cancer risk

factors never develop the disease, while most women with breast cancer have

no apparent risk factors. Even when a woman with breast cancer has a risk

factor, there is no way to prove that it actually caused her cancer.

 

There are different kinds of risk factors. Some, like a person's age or

race, can't be changed. Others are linked to cancer-causing factors in the

environment. Still others are related to personal choices such as smoking,

drinking, and diet. Some factors influence risk more than others. And, a

woman's risk for developing breast cancer can change over time. A change

could be caused by increasing age, new breast biopsy result, or a new

diagnosis of breast cancer within the woman's family.

 

 

Risk Factors That Cannot Be Changed

 

Gender: Breast cancer can affect men, but this disease is about 100 times

more common among women than men.

 

Aging: A woman's risk of developing breast cancer increases with age. About

18% of breast cancer diagnoses are mong women in their 40's, while about 77%

of women with breast cancer are older than 50 when they are diagnosed.

 

Genetic risk factors: Recent studies have shown that about 10% of breast

cancer cases are hereditary and that most of these result from mutations

(changes) of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Normally, these genes help to

prevent cancer by making proteins that keep cells from growing abnormally.

However, if a person has inherited either mutated gene from a parent, this

person is at increased risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

 

Family history of breast cancer: Breast cancer risk is higher among women

whose close blood relatives have this disease. Your risk of developing

breast cancer is increased if:

 

You have 2 or more relatives with breast or ovarian cancer.

Breast cancer occurs before age 50 in a relative (mother, sister,

grandmother or aunt) on either side of the family. The risk is higher if

your mother or sister has a history of breast cancer.

You have relatives with both breast and ovarian cancer

You have 1 or more relatives with two cancers (breast and ovarian, or two

different breast cancers)

You have male relatives with breast cancer

You have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer and Ashkenazi Jewish

heritage.

Your family history includes a history of diseases associated with

hereditary breast cancer such as Li-Fraumeni or Cowdens Syndromes.

Having one first-degree relative (mother, sister, or daughter) with breast

cancer approximately doubles a woman's risk, and having two first-degree

relatives increases her risk 5-fold. Although the exact risk is not known,

women with a family history of breast cancer in a father or brother also

have an increased risk of breast cancer.

 

Personal history of breast cancer: A woman with cancer in one breast has a

3- to 4-fold increased risk of developing a new cancer in the other breast.

This is different from a recurrence of the first cancer.

 

Race: White women are slightly more likely to develop breast cancer than are

African-American women. But African Americans are more likely to die of this

cancer because they are often diagnosed at an advanced stage when breast

cancer is harder to treat and cure. Asian and Hispanic women have a lower

risk of developing breast cancer.

 

Previous breast biopsy: Women whose earlier breast biopsies were diagnosed

as proliferative breast disease without atypia or usual hyperplasia have a

slightly higher risk of breast cancer (1.5 to 2 times greater than other

women do). A previous biopsy result of atypical hyperplasia increases a

woman's breast cancer risk by 4 to 5 times. Having a biopsy diagnosed as

fibrocystic changes without proliferative breast disease does not affect

breast cancer risk.

 

Previous breast irradiation: Women who have had chest area radiation therapy

as a child or young woman, as treatment for another cancer (such as Hodgkin

disease or non-Hodgkin's lymphoma) are at significantly increased risk for

breast cancer.

 

Menstrual periods: Women who started menstruating at an early age (before

age 12) or who went through menopause at a late age (after age 55) have a

slightly higher risk of breast cancer.

 

 

Lifestyle-Related Factors and Breast Cancer Risk

 

Oral contraceptives: It is still not clear what part oral contraceptives

(birth control pills) might play in breast cancer risk. A recent analysis

using data from most of the large, well-designed, published studies found

that women now using oral contraceptives have a slightly greater risk of

breast cancer than those women not using them. Women who stopped using oral

contraceptives more than 10 years ago do not appear to have any increased

breast cancer risk. When considering using oral contraceptives, women should

discuss their other risk factors for breast cancer with their health care

team.

 

Not having children: Women who have had no children or who had their first

child after age 30 have a slightly higher breast cancer risk.

 

Induced abortion: A large, recent study from Denmark has provided very

strong data that induced abortions have no overall effect on the risk of

breast cancer. Also, there is no evidence of a direct relationship between

breast cancer and spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) in most of the studies

that have been published.

 

Hormone replacement therapy: Most studies suggest that long-term use

(several years or more) of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after menopause

may slightly increase your risk of breast cancer. If you still have your

uterus (womb), doctors generally prescribe estrogen and progesterone (known

as combined HRT). Estrogen relieves menopausal symptoms and prevents

osteoporosis (thinning of the bones that can lead to fractures). But

estrogen can increase the risk of developing cancer of the uterus.

Progesterone is added to help prevent this. If you no longer have your

uterus, then only estrogen is prescribed. This is commonly known as estrogen

replacement therapy (ERT).

 

Several large studies, including the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), have

found that there is an increased risk of breast cancer related to the use of

combined HRT. The most recent results from the WHI found that not only did

combined HRT increase breast cancer risk, but it increased the likelihood

that the cancer would be found at a more advanced stage. It also appeared to

reduce the effectiveness of mammography, as more abnormal findings on

mammograms were noted.

 

The risk of HRT appears to apply only to current and recent users, and a

woman's breast cancer risk seems to return to that of the general population

within 5 years of stopping HRT.

 

Estrogen alone (ERT) does not appear to increase the risk of developing

breast cancer. In fact, a separate part of the large WHI study found that it

may slightly decrease the risk (although it was linked to an increased risk

of stroke).

 

At this time there appear to be few strong reasons to use hormone

replacement therapy (combined HRT or ERT), other than possibly for the

temporary relief of menopausal symptoms. In addition to the increased risk

of breast cancer, the WHI found that combined HRT also increased the risk of

heart disease, blood clots, and strokes, and did not have a beneficial

effect on mental function or preventing Alzheimer's disease. It did lower

the risk of colorectal cancer and osteoporosis, but this must be weighed

against the possible harms, and with the understanding that there are other

effective ways to prevent osteoporosis. And, as noted above, while ERT did

not seem to have much effect on the risk of breast cancer, it did increase

the risk of stroke.

 

The decision to use hormone replacement therapy after menopause should be

made by the woman and her doctor after weighing all of the possible risks

and benefits, including other risk factors for heart disease, breast cancer,

osteoporosis, and the severity of menopausal symptoms.

 

Not breast feeding: Some studies suggest that breast feeding may lower

breast cancer risk, especially if breast feeding is continued for 1.5 to 2

years. It is the total amount of time spent with breast-feeding that seems

to be important (i.e. 1 child for 2 years equals 2 children for 1 year).

 

Alcohol: Use of alcohol is clearly linked to increased risk of developing

breast cancer. Compared with nondrinkers, women who consume one alcoholic

drink a day have a very small increase in risk, and those who have 2 to 5

drinks daily, have about 1.5 times the risk of women who drink no alcohol.

Alcohol is also known to increase the risk of developing cancers of the

mouth, throat, and esophagus. The American Cancer Society recommends

limiting your consumption of alcohol, if you drink at all.

 

Smoking: While no studies have yet linked cigarette smoking to breast

cancer, smoking affects overall health and increases the risk for many other

cancers, as well as heart disease.

 

Obesity and high-fat diets: Obesity (being overweight) has been suggested as

a breast cancer risk in all studies, especially for women after menopause

(which usually occurs at age 50). However, the connection between weight and

breast cancer risk is complex. For example, risk appears to be increased for

women who gained weight as an adult but not among those who have been

overweight since childhood. Also, the effect of obesity on risk is more

prominent among women taking hormone replacement therapy than among those

who do not.

 

Studies of fat in the diet as it relates to breast cancer risk have often

given conflicting results. Most studies found that breast cancer is less

common in countries where the typical diet is low in total fat, low in

polyunsaturated fat, and low in saturated fat. On the other hand, many

studies of women in the United States have not found breast cancer risk to

be related to dietary fat intake. Researchers are still not sure how to

explain this apparent disagreement. Many scientists note that studies

comparing diet and breast cancer risk in different countries are complicated

by other differences (such as activity level, intake of other nutrients,

genetic factors) that might also alter breast cancer risk.

 

More research is needed to better understand the impact of fat intake

(especially the types of fat eaten) and body weight on breast cancer risk.

But, these factors have been shown to affect the risk of developing several

other types of cancer, and intake of certain types of fat is clearly related

to heart disease risk. The American Cancer Society recommends maintaining a

healthy weight and limiting your intake of red meats, especially those high

in fat or processed.

 

Physical activity: Exercise and cancer is a relatively new area of research.

Recent studies indicate that strenuous exercise in youth (60 minutes per day

at least 5 days per week) might provide life-long protection against breast

cancer, and that in adults 45 minutes or more of moderate to vigorous

activity on 5 or more days per week can lower breast cancer risk. Additional

research is underway to lean more about physical activity and cancer.

 

Environmental risk factors: A great deal of research has been reported and

more is under way in the field of environmental influences on breast cancer

risk. The goal is to determine their possible relationships to breast

cancer. Currently, research does not clearly show a link between breast

cancer risk and exposure to environmental pollutants, such as the pesticide

DDE (chemically related to DDT), and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

 

Other factors: Recent internet e-mail rumors have suggested that underarm

antiperspirants and underwire bras impede lymph circulation and contribute

to development of breast cancer. There is no evidence that either factor is

causally related to breast cancer risk.