More Evidence That Smoking Raises Breast Cancer Risk

Cigarette smoking appears to increase the risk of breast cancer, especially when women start smoking early in life, new research indicates. The timing of the smoking appears to affect the degree of risk, she said. "It seems that women who start smoking before their first birth are at greatest risk of breast cancer," Gaudet said. The researchers looked at data from women enrolled in a large, long-term cancer society study involving lifestyle factors and prevention. Over the follow-up of nearly 14 years, more than 3,700 cases of invasive breast cancer were found. When the women entered the study in 1992, they were aged 50 to 74. They supplied information on smoking habits, past and present. At the start, about 8 percent smoked, about 36 percent had quit and about 56 percent never smoked. The incidence of invasive breast cancer was 24 percent higher in current smokers and 13 percent higher in former smokers, compared to never smokers, the researchers found. http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=673935