by Sherry Baker, Health Sciences Editor
Why on earth are younger women developing more malignant breast tumors -- especially the kind that spread to other parts of the body? That's the worrisome question a new study raises.
Rebecca H. Johnson, M.D., of Seattle Children's Hospital and University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues have found a statistically significant increase in the incidence of advanced breast cancer for women who are only 25 to 39 years of age. What's more, older women -- who are supposedly at a greater risk for breast cancer -- were not found to have a corresponding increase.
In the United States, breast cancer is now the most common malignant tumor in adolescent and young adult women between the ages of 15 and 39 years of age. Young women with breast cancer tend to have the more aggressive form of the disease than older women and they also have higher death rates from breast cancer. Because of these factors -- coupled with the fact doctors have reported in recent years that they seem to have more and more young women patients who are diagnosed with advanced breast cancer -- Johnson and her research team decided to investigate the national trends in breast cancer incidencein the U.S.
Their study, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) , involved analyzing breast cancer incidence, trends, and survival rates as a function of age. The researchers also looked at data about the extent of the disease at diagnosis. Data for the study was obtained from three U.S. National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries and covered the years 1973-2009, 1992-2009, and 2000-2009.
The results? Since 1976, there has been a constant increase in the incidence of distant disease breast cancer (which is defined as remote metastases to the bone, brain, lung and/or other organs) in young women. Overall, the compounded increase is slightly over 2.07 percent per year over the 34-year interval. While that may seem like a small increase, it is a steady one and, the researchers noted, "..the trend shows no evidence for abatement and may indicate increasing epidemiologic and clinical significance."
"The trajectory of the incidence trend predicts that an increasing number of young women in the United States will present with metastatic breast cancer in an age group that already has the worst prognosis, no recommended routine screening practice, the least health insurance, and the most potential years of life," the scientists wrote.
What's more, the increase in breast cancer in young women was across the board -- whether women lived in cities or non-metropolitan areas -- and whether they were African American or Caucasian. The greatest increases in breast cancers occurred in 25 to 34-year-old women. Curiously, there was no statistically significant increase occurred in breast cancer rates in women 55 years or older.
"Whatever the causes -- and likely there are more than one -- the evidence we observed for the increasing incidence of advanced breast cancer in young women will require corroboration and may be best confirmed by data from other countries. If verified, the increase is particularly concerning, because young age itself is an independent adverse prognostic factor for breast cancer," the researchers wrote. "The most recent national five year survival for distant disease for 25 to 39-year-old women is only 31 percent according to SEER data, compared with a five year survival rate of 87 percent for women with locoregional breast cancer."
While the study does not attempt to delve into causes of the increase in breast cancer in young women, the fact that older women have not experienced an increase in the disease suggests some obvious questions researchers might want to pursue. For example, have younger women experienced more exposure since childhood to cancer-causing environmental toxins and pesticides? Has the well known hormone disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) found in countless plastic products that younger women have been exposed to since an early age played a role in the rise in their breast cancer rates?
And as Natural News recently reported, researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found low serum vitamin D levels in young women may predict there's a high risk that breast cancer will, in fact, be found in upcoming months. So could increasing numbers of young women be developing breast cancer because they are deficient in vitamin D after using sunscreen and avoiding sun exposure their entire lives, unlike many older women?
Sources:
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1656255
About the author:
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA's "Healthy Years" newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's "Focus on Health Aging" newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic's "Men's Health Advisor" newsletter and many others.
===========================================================================================
HQR's comment:
Aside from the mentioned, a few more possible reasons come to mind. These have often been pointed out in various studies.
- Increased use and exposure to estrogen mimics in food and water sources. Xeno-estrogens are everywhere including body care products like lotions. The biggest market for body care and makeup products are the same age group with the current highest risks of developing breast cancers.
- Lowered levels of antioxidants due to increased stress, exposure to radiation, pesticides, chemicals all of which increases free radical activities in the body. Anti-oxidants are known to protect the body from damages that may lead to cancer.
- Increased use of birth control pills (as a pleasure drug or medically) which brings us back to exposure to xeno-estrogen. Most medical doctors are trained to give hormone pills to deal with symptoms of PMS and other menstrual problems. This exposes the women to unnecessary risks. It might address the current problem but exchanging it with potential problem in the future. There are medical doctors who still follow the routine recommendation of starting women on HRT even without any symptoms or need from the patient. This despite the big controversy in the use of HRT.
Asking women at that age to undergo routine mammographic screening will be harder than asking those older women. Maybe due to the associated pain of mammography, but more probably due to the association of mammography being for OLDER women only.
The best way is to educate our young women of the risks and the trend that current society and culture has in store for them. Introduce them to truly healthy lifestyle and dietary changes. Being aware and proactive in their health and adopting a truly preventive approach to their health would go a long way. We also suggest MDITI as a breast screening tool without the pain and radiation of mammography. Our experience has shown that younger women opt for MDITI than for mammography. In other words, MDITI is not just for the old. It is particularly interesting and fitted for younger women. Since younger women usually have denser breast tissues, it is a well known fact that mammography and ultrasound are not as useful when dealing with dense breast tissues. This is not a factor for thermal screening using MDITI.
Why on earth are younger women developing more malignant breast tumors -- especially the kind that spread to other parts of the body? That's the worrisome question a new study raises.
Rebecca H. Johnson, M.D., of Seattle Children's Hospital and University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues have found a statistically significant increase in the incidence of advanced breast cancer for women who are only 25 to 39 years of age. What's more, older women -- who are supposedly at a greater risk for breast cancer -- were not found to have a corresponding increase.
In the United States, breast cancer is now the most common malignant tumor in adolescent and young adult women between the ages of 15 and 39 years of age. Young women with breast cancer tend to have the more aggressive form of the disease than older women and they also have higher death rates from breast cancer. Because of these factors -- coupled with the fact doctors have reported in recent years that they seem to have more and more young women patients who are diagnosed with advanced breast cancer -- Johnson and her research team decided to investigate the national trends in breast cancer incidencein the U.S.
Their study, just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) , involved analyzing breast cancer incidence, trends, and survival rates as a function of age. The researchers also looked at data about the extent of the disease at diagnosis. Data for the study was obtained from three U.S. National Cancer Institute Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registries and covered the years 1973-2009, 1992-2009, and 2000-2009.
The results? Since 1976, there has been a constant increase in the incidence of distant disease breast cancer (which is defined as remote metastases to the bone, brain, lung and/or other organs) in young women. Overall, the compounded increase is slightly over 2.07 percent per year over the 34-year interval. While that may seem like a small increase, it is a steady one and, the researchers noted, "..the trend shows no evidence for abatement and may indicate increasing epidemiologic and clinical significance."
"The trajectory of the incidence trend predicts that an increasing number of young women in the United States will present with metastatic breast cancer in an age group that already has the worst prognosis, no recommended routine screening practice, the least health insurance, and the most potential years of life," the scientists wrote.
What's more, the increase in breast cancer in young women was across the board -- whether women lived in cities or non-metropolitan areas -- and whether they were African American or Caucasian. The greatest increases in breast cancers occurred in 25 to 34-year-old women. Curiously, there was no statistically significant increase occurred in breast cancer rates in women 55 years or older.
"Whatever the causes -- and likely there are more than one -- the evidence we observed for the increasing incidence of advanced breast cancer in young women will require corroboration and may be best confirmed by data from other countries. If verified, the increase is particularly concerning, because young age itself is an independent adverse prognostic factor for breast cancer," the researchers wrote. "The most recent national five year survival for distant disease for 25 to 39-year-old women is only 31 percent according to SEER data, compared with a five year survival rate of 87 percent for women with locoregional breast cancer."
While the study does not attempt to delve into causes of the increase in breast cancer in young women, the fact that older women have not experienced an increase in the disease suggests some obvious questions researchers might want to pursue. For example, have younger women experienced more exposure since childhood to cancer-causing environmental toxins and pesticides? Has the well known hormone disruptor bisphenol A (BPA) found in countless plastic products that younger women have been exposed to since an early age played a role in the rise in their breast cancer rates?
And as Natural News recently reported, researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have found low serum vitamin D levels in young women may predict there's a high risk that breast cancer will, in fact, be found in upcoming months. So could increasing numbers of young women be developing breast cancer because they are deficient in vitamin D after using sunscreen and avoiding sun exposure their entire lives, unlike many older women?
Sources:
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1656255
About the author:
Sherry Baker is a widely published writer whose work has appeared in Newsweek, Health, the Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Yoga Journal, Optometry, Atlanta, Arthritis Today, Natural Healing Newsletter, OMNI, UCLA's "Healthy Years" newsletter, Mount Sinai School of Medicine's "Focus on Health Aging" newsletter, the Cleveland Clinic's "Men's Health Advisor" newsletter and many others.
===========================================================================================
HQR's comment:
Aside from the mentioned, a few more possible reasons come to mind. These have often been pointed out in various studies.
- Increased use and exposure to estrogen mimics in food and water sources. Xeno-estrogens are everywhere including body care products like lotions. The biggest market for body care and makeup products are the same age group with the current highest risks of developing breast cancers.
- Lowered levels of antioxidants due to increased stress, exposure to radiation, pesticides, chemicals all of which increases free radical activities in the body. Anti-oxidants are known to protect the body from damages that may lead to cancer.
- Increased use of birth control pills (as a pleasure drug or medically) which brings us back to exposure to xeno-estrogen. Most medical doctors are trained to give hormone pills to deal with symptoms of PMS and other menstrual problems. This exposes the women to unnecessary risks. It might address the current problem but exchanging it with potential problem in the future. There are medical doctors who still follow the routine recommendation of starting women on HRT even without any symptoms or need from the patient. This despite the big controversy in the use of HRT.
Asking women at that age to undergo routine mammographic screening will be harder than asking those older women. Maybe due to the associated pain of mammography, but more probably due to the association of mammography being for OLDER women only.
The best way is to educate our young women of the risks and the trend that current society and culture has in store for them. Introduce them to truly healthy lifestyle and dietary changes. Being aware and proactive in their health and adopting a truly preventive approach to their health would go a long way. We also suggest MDITI as a breast screening tool without the pain and radiation of mammography. Our experience has shown that younger women opt for MDITI than for mammography. In other words, MDITI is not just for the old. It is particularly interesting and fitted for younger women. Since younger women usually have denser breast tissues, it is a well known fact that mammography and ultrasound are not as useful when dealing with dense breast tissues. This is not a factor for thermal screening using MDITI.