BMJ 2014;348:g1414 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g1414 (Published 10 February 2014)
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Research News
RESEARCH NEWS Smoking is linked to most common type of breast cancer, finds US study Jacqui Wise London
A US case-control study has found a modest association between smoking and the most common type of breast cancer in young women.1 The link was limited to an increase in the risk of the most common subtype of the disease, estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, said research published in the journal Cancer. Smoking did not affect the risk of the less common but more aggressive subtype, triple negative breast cancer. Evidence about the correlation between smoking and breast cancer in young women is mixed, and previous studies have not examined the association among different breast cancer subtypes.
Women who were current or recent smokers and had been smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for at least 10 years had a 60% increased risk of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer (1.6 (1.1 to 2.4)) but no increase in their risk of triple negative breast cancer.
The study’s authors said that many carcinogens in tobacco smoke—such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines, and nitrosamines—had been detected in the breast fluid and tissue of smokers and may have estrogenic effects.
The researchers studied 778 women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer and 182 patients with triple negative breast cancer. The women were ages 20-44 and had received breast cancer diagnoses from 2004 to 2010. The study also included 938 cancer-free controls. Women who had smoked had a 30% increased risk of breast cancer overall (relative risk 1.3 (95% confidence interval 1.1 to 1.7)) compared with those who had never smoked. When stratified by cancer subtype the smokers had a 40% increased risk of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer but no elevation in their risk of triple negative breast cancer.
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1
Kawai M, Malone K, Tang M, Li C. Active smoking and the risk of estrogen receptor-positive and triple-negative breast cancer among women ages 20 to 44 years. Cancer 10 Feb 2014, doi:10.1002/cncr.28402.
Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g1414 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
Page 1 of 1
Research News
RESEARCH NEWS Smoking is linked to most common type of breast cancer, finds US study Jacqui Wise London
A US case-control study has found a modest association between smoking and the most common type of breast cancer in young women.1 The link was limited to an increase in the risk of the most common subtype of the disease, estrogen receptor positive breast cancer, said research published in the journal Cancer. Smoking did not affect the risk of the less common but more aggressive subtype, triple negative breast cancer. Evidence about the correlation between smoking and breast cancer in young women is mixed, and previous studies have not examined the association among different breast cancer subtypes.
Women who were current or recent smokers and had been smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for at least 10 years had a 60% increased risk of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer (1.6 (1.1 to 2.4)) but no increase in their risk of triple negative breast cancer.
The study’s authors said that many carcinogens in tobacco smoke—such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines, and nitrosamines—had been detected in the breast fluid and tissue of smokers and may have estrogenic effects.
The researchers studied 778 women with estrogen receptor positive breast cancer and 182 patients with triple negative breast cancer. The women were ages 20-44 and had received breast cancer diagnoses from 2004 to 2010. The study also included 938 cancer-free controls. Women who had smoked had a 30% increased risk of breast cancer overall (relative risk 1.3 (95% confidence interval 1.1 to 1.7)) compared with those who had never smoked. When stratified by cancer subtype the smokers had a 40% increased risk of estrogen receptor positive breast cancer but no elevation in their risk of triple negative breast cancer.
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
1
Kawai M, Malone K, Tang M, Li C. Active smoking and the risk of estrogen receptor-positive and triple-negative breast cancer among women ages 20 to 44 years. Cancer 10 Feb 2014, doi:10.1002/cncr.28402.
Cite this as: BMJ 2014;348:g1414 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2014
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
