Women who start to smoke when adolescent have a 70 per cent higher risk of breast cancer, according to a new survey.

Previous research has been inconclusive on whether smoking is a risk factor in breast cancer. But researchers in British Columbia, Canada, now seem to have discovered a link.

They surveyed over 600 premenopausal and 1400 postmenopausal women with and without breast cancer, asking them about their smoking history. This revealed that women who began to smoke within five years of the onset of menstruation had a 70 per cent increased risk of developing cancer compared to non-smokers.

If the link is a causal one, it may arise from the fact that breast tissue is still developing during adolescence. It may be more susceptible to the effect of carcinogens in cigarette smoke at this stage. Further studies, using molecular biology, will reveal more about how the smoking and breast cancer connection works. In the meantime, health educators need to try to convince young women just how smoking may affect their health in later life.

Source

Lancet 5th October 2002