New Breast Cancer Information

Posted by Maryan Pelland Dec 3, 2006

First, don't panic. Talk to your health care-provider if you have any concerns. Here's the scoop from the Canadian Press article of Nov. 27:

As we age, so do all of our tissues. One of the things that happens to breast tissue is that milk-producing glands that once took up all the space, or most of it, can often be replaced by fat cells. It's called involution, and about half of women over 70 experience total switch-over. That's part of how full-shaped breasts remain full even if we're not in production era.

Those fat cells may be less likely to develop harmful tumors than the lactation cells were.

The article says some things that can change the picture are childbearing, benign breast disease (growths that, in themselves, are not cancerous), and hormone replacement therapy. If you had more than three kids, the possibility of complete involution drops slightly, perhaps elevating risk factors.

If you had hormone replacement therapy, you may be about 2% less likely to experience the tissue change over.

Benign breast disease participants with little or no involution were about twice as likely to develop cancer.

Though past reports seemed to say breastfeeding reduced the risk of tumor development, this study (published in the November 2006 Journal of the (Canadian) National Cancer Institute) found no connection to breastfeeding and involution.

The study had not yet been appended to the NCI Web site as of this writing.

Remember that this is only one study and data from studies is complicated. Most of us would find it difficult, at best, to dig through the myriad of results and make sense of them. Just look at this as one more pointer for doctors when they evaluate women's breast health. It is not the only indicator of your degree of cancer risk.

MORE:

Info about cancer study trials

Mayo Clinic study of involution in breast tissue