News & Politics - Urban women could be at greater risk for breast cancer

elisheva · 11-26-2007, 08:25 PM

Quote:

City women more likely to have denser breasts, study suggests
Last Updated: Monday, November 26, 2007 | 4:58 PM ET
CBC News

Urban-dwelling women are more likely to have dense breasts, suggests new research presented Monday.

Previous studies have found that having very dense breast tissue, which means the breasts have more glandular tissue than fat, means a woman has four times the risk of developing breast cancer.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, which runs from Nov. 25 to 30.

Researchers at the London Breast Institute at the Princess Grace Hospital reviewed digital mammograms of 617 women aged 29 to 87 who lived in urban, surburban and rural areas of London, England. They studied 225 mammograms from rural residents, 135 from surburban dwellers and 257 from urbanites.

One hundred and sixty-one of the mammograms were found to be "entirely fatty," meaning there was no glandular tissue; 187 had scattered fibroglandular densities, a mixture of fat and glandular areas; 136 were considered "heterogeneously dense;" and 133 were "extremely" dense.

Thirty-one per cent of women from rural areas had entirely fatty breasts, compared to 26 per cent of suburban women and 22 per cent of urban women.

Women who lived in downtown London had "significantly" denser breasts than those who lived outside the city, the researchers say. The relative risk of greater breast density if a woman lived in an urban area 1.54 and 1.14 for women in surburban areas, compared to those in rural areas.

The risk of density was twice as high in women aged 45 to 54, the study found.

"Women living in cities need to pay more attention to having regular breast screening," said one of the researchers, Nicholas Perry, the director of the London Breast Institute.

"Currently, women who live in urban areas are known to have lower attendance for breast screening programs than women in outlying areas," Perry said in a news release issued Monday.

Perry suggested women with dense breasts undergo testing via digital mammography, which he feels is better at detecting cancers.

He also warned that more research is needed regarding the causes of breast density before any definitive conclusions can be made.

I thought some people might find this interesting.. if this connection holds up under further study, I wonder what could be causing it?

Lovely Lala · 11-27-2007, 03:33 AM

That is intresting......Maybe is the bad air or something
Anyways I cant guess but really weird

migamoo · 11-27-2007, 09:06 AM

It could be air, yes, but also foods or stress or something we might not even know.

Lovely Lala · 11-27-2007, 01:27 PM

Yup...a little scary BUT I cant imagine not living in the city
and at least my city isnt as dirty as London

elisheva · 11-27-2007, 03:13 PM

Yeah, there's a whole bunch of different stuff you'd have to consider, all the differences between urban and rural living.

**sunnykerr** · 11-27-2007, 08:56 PM

Important facts, all. But, I have to admit, I'm getting tired of hearing about all the things that may contribute to getting this type of cancer or that type of cancer. I don't want to do anything wantonly stupid or foolish, obviously, but it's all starting to feel a bit like evasion. Covering for the fact that no one seems to be getting any close to identifying ways to cure cancer. Or stop it altogether. I know cancer's one of the big ones and changes don't happen over night... but, gah.

I mean, who needs a study to tell us that our health is likely to be negatively impacted from living in a place where there's less clean air?

Lovely Lala · 11-28-2007, 01:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post)

I mean, who needs a study to tell us that our health is likely to be negatively impacted from living in a place where there's less clean air?

LOL very true

migamoo · 11-28-2007, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post)

Important facts, all. But, I have to admit, I'm getting tired of hearing about all the things that may contribute to getting this type of cancer or that type of cancer.

But it's also a stepping stone in hopefully finding a cure. I mean, if we know what CAN cause certain cancers, we might be able to prevent it.

**sunnykerr** · 11-28-2007, 06:13 PM

Oh, absolutely. But, seriously, living in a city? Are we meant to all move out to the country now? Wouldn't that turn the country into a bunch of other cities?

Listen, I know I'm being a brat. I know certain causes for cancer have been meaningfully identified. But... guh, urban living? I mean, come on. What are people supposed to do about that?

It's not like saying that smoking causes cancer. You can do something about that. Living in a city. I mean, I don't want to be overly dramatic or anything, but it's not like there's always that much of a choice. We go where the jobs are, where the schools are.

elisheva · 11-28-2007, 06:45 PM

I see what you mean, Sunny. There's every week a new article about what habit causes what disease, and if you tried to follow them all you'd go nuts. And probably have the world's weirdest diet. But I think that maybe the researchers wouldn't at all go as far as saying 'move out of the city now' - I think the usefulness of this is, like Ashley said, steps towards a cure, and second, to alert urban women that they maybe have to be a little more on top of things in terms of prevention, being aware, regular mammograms and so on.

migamoo · 11-28-2007, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sunnykerr (View Post)

Oh, absolutely. But, seriously, living in a city? Are we meant to all move out to the country now? Wouldn't that turn the country into a bunch of other cities?

No, I don't think we should stop living in cities. But because women who do live in cities have a higher chance of getting breast cancer, they could cross-check similar or different environmental factors that could possibly be contributing to it. If scientists can single out a few things, it will go a long way in helping to fight cancer.

**sunnykerr** · 11-30-2007, 08:50 PM

Exactly. It would be very helpful, if they could single out a few things.

Look, I'm the daughter of a nurse. And, as a child, I spent enough times in hospital not to knock the scientific process and the need to formulate and research theories before coming to any solid solutions, let alone announcing them to the whole world as solid fact.

I am seriously not trying to knock the scientists and their process. It would, in fact, be the furthest thing from my mind to do.

But, going back to my mum for a sec. It's like when I have a couple symptoms of something as-yet undiagnosed and I go to her for possible things it could be. I'll come at her with a headache, a bit of nausea and a dry cough, and she'll spend the next hour listing all of the things it could possibly be. She's trying to be helpful. And, in a way, she really is. But 200 possible ailments is just as useful as having no clue what it could be.

So, again, not knocking the researchers, but they do keep coming up with new things that could lead to cancer. And more power to them for trying to narrow it down and for trying to find connecting dots in what I am sure must be a heck of a mess. But, as a member of the non-scientific public, I have to say that I don't find it particularly useful to announce on an almost monthly basis new things that could be linked to various forms of cancer.

And, taking a radical shift here, since when does denser breast equal more breast cancer? It certainly makes it harder to find the cancer, meaning that, by the time it is found, it is likelier to be at a more advanced stage and thus more difficult to treat. This is the first time I've heard anyone claim that denser breasts naturally create a greater risk for breast cancer.

Again, could just be me. It's not like I'm an expert in these things or anything. But I do come from a family full of women with polycistic breasts. So, while I don't know very much about the realities of breast cancer, I do know what it means to have dense breasts and what that does to your ability to spot "abnormalities."


Fan Forum > General Discussion > News & Politics > Urban women could be at greater risk for breast cancer