Mammograms, X-rays may boost breast cancer risk by 250% (2 articles below)

BreastImplantAwareness.or · medicine forum beginner Joined: 11 Jun 2006 Posts: 47

This is very upsetting information ...

www.BreastImplantAwareness.org

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,13509-2244348,00.html

The Times June 27, 2006

Chest X-ray for under 20s may double the risk of breast cancer
By Sam Lister, Health Correspondent

PEOPLE with a family history of breast cancer may unknowingly increase
their risk of developing the disease through exposure to radiation
from chest X-rays, research suggests.
A study of 1,600 women with BRCA 1 and 2 mutations — defective genes
linked to breast cancer — found they were 54 per cent more likely to
suffer the disease if they had ever had a chest X-ray.

More worryingly, for women given chest X-rays before the age of 20,
the risk of developing breast cancer before their 40th birthday was 2½
times greater.

The scientists said that the findings, if confirmed by further
research, suggested the need for at-risk women to seek alternative
methods of breast screening.

David Goldgar, who led the investigation while heading the Genetic
Epidemiology Group at the International Agency for Research on Cancer
in Lyons, France, said: “This is one of the first studies to
demonstrate that women genetically predisposed to breast cancer may be
more susceptible to low-dose ionising radiation than other women. If
(the findings are) confirmed in prospective studies, young women who
are members of families known to have BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 mutations may
wish to consider alternatives to X-rays, such as MRI (magnetic
resonance imaging).”

BRCA 1 and 2 are genes that make proteins involved in repairing damage
to DNA in breast cells. X-rays disrupt DNA, but as long as the
radiation dose is not too high the damage is naturally repaired.
Cancer cells do not have the same self-repair ability, which is why
X-rays are used in radiotherapy to destroy cancer.

“Since BRCA proteins are integral in repairing damage to breast cells,
we hypothesised that women with BRCA 1/2 mutations would be less able
to repair damage caused to DNA by ionising radiation,” Dr Goldgar
said.

“Our findings support this hypothesis and stress the need for
prospective studies.”

The researchers analysed questionnaires completed by more than 1,600
women taking part in the International BRCA 1/2 Carrier Cohort Study
(IBCCS) — a major European investigation of women with BRCA mutations.
While all the women carried the mutations, not all developed breast
cancer.

The women were asked whether they had ever had chest X-rays and, if
so, whether it was before or after the age of 20.

The findings were published yesterday in the Journal of Clinical
Oncology.

Inheriting a copy of either BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 means that a woman has an
80 per cent chance of developing breast cancer before the age of 70,
as against a chance of about 10 per cent for other women.

However, only a small percentage of breast cancers are linked to the
genes. Gene testing is recommended only for women with a strong family
history of breast cancer — two close relatives who had the disease, or
one who developed it very young.

Identifying the gene gives women the option of more frequent screening
or even removal of the breasts.

Emma Pennery, nurse consultant at the charity Breast Cancer Care,
said: “While excessive radiation exposure is an established risk
factor for breast cancer, especially in younger people, this is one of
the first studies to look at the effects of low doses . . . trials are
needed to further investigate this.”

http://www.newstarget.com/019477.html

NewsTarget) An International Agency for Research on Cancer study
showed that chest X-rays may increase women's chances of developing
breast cancer. The study involved 1,600 women with high-risk BRCA1 and
2 gene mutations.
"If confirmed in prospective studies, young women who are members of
families known to have BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations may wish to consider
alternatives to X-ray, such as MRI," Lead researcher Dr. David Goldgar
said.

According to the study, women who get chest X-rays before the age of
20 may increase their risk of developing the disease 2.5 times by age
40 compared to women who had never been exposed to x-rays.

"It is important to remember that 90 percent of breast cancer cases
are not hereditary and that most healthy women would not need to have
frequent chest X-rays, especially if in their 20s," Breast Cancer
Care's Dr. Erin Pennery said.

The research has not conclusively tied chest X-rays to breast cancer.
The researchers did say that women who had been diagnosed with breast
cancer were more likely to remember getting a mammogram than women who
had not.

However, it is no surprise that there is skepticism of these findings
among cancer industry groups which rely on mammography to recruit
patients into lucrative cancer treatment protocols. It is not in the
interests of such groups to admit that the very test used to detect
breast cancer appears to be causing it.

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