Jump to full article: Globe and Mail (ca), 2009-04-24
Author: ANDRÉ PICARD From Friday's Globe and Mail
Intro: Young women who smoke - as well as those who are routinely exposed to second-hand smoke - face a significantly higher risk of developing breast cancer later in life, according to a new study.
"Individual women have, on average, a one-in-seven chance of developing breast cancer. If they smoke, they will increase that risk to one-in-four or one-in-five," Anthony Miller, associate director of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, said in an interview.
"The risk is about the same for passive smoke, particularly for a girl growing up in a house where there is a smoker," he said.
Dr. Miller is a member of an expert panel that reviewed the extensive scientific evidence on the link between smoking and breast cancer.
They produced a densely scientific, 75-page report that features a number of clear conclusions, including:
Smoking increases the risk of breast cancer in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women by 50 to 70 per cent.
(A woman's risk of breast cancer rises sharply at menopause. About 70 per cent of breast cancer cases occur after 50.)
Exposure to second-hand smoke increases the risk of breast cancer in premenopausal women by 60 to 70 per cent.
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