Birth Size Linked to Breast Cancer Risk
Reported October 03, 2008
(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