(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Birth size -- particularly length -- may help
predict a baby's risk of developing breast cancer when he or she reaches
adulthood.
The birth size and breast cancer association had been previously made, but
researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine set out to
discover to what extent it plays a role.
After analyzing 32 studies on the topic, they concluded birth size, including
weight, length and head circumference, are positively correlated with breast
cancer risk. For example, a 0.5 kg increment in birth weight was linked to an
estimated seven percent increase in breast cancer risk. The length of a baby
appeared to be the strongest predictor.
“Little is known on how the pre-natal environment may affect breast cancer risk
later in life,” Isabel dos Santos Silva, M.D., Ph.D., lead researcher and a
professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine,
was quoted as saying. “Further research is needed to unravel the biological
mechanisms underlying the birth size - breast cancer association.”
SOURCE: PLoS Medicine, 2008;5:e193-e
