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A number of small studies over the past few years have shown
a possible increased incidence of breast cancer in women who use dry
cleaning services or professional lawn services. However, several
health care professionals doubt the scientific validity of these
studies whose data is often contradicted in larger studies.
In one recent study, 1350 women between the ages of 35 and 75
(not necessarily cancer patients) in a Boston suburb were randomly
questioned about their health. The results revealed that women in
neighborhoods with higher rates of breast cancer typically had
higher incomes and were more likely to use dry cleaning services and
a professional lawn service than those women who did not have breast
cancer. However, published results of the study did not mention
whether the women with breast cancer (or who survived breast cancer)
had any of the generally accepted risk factors for developing the
disease. Those risk factors include:
- Age
- Family history
- Previous breast biopsy showing benign conditions
- Menstruation beginning at an early age
- Menstruation continuing past age 50
- Not having children
- Having a first child after age 30
- High fat diets
- Obesity
- Mutations of the genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2
- Long term hormone replacement therapy
Click here for more
information on risk factors for developing breast
cancer
.
Similar data linking pesticides to increased incidences of
breast cancer have also been inconclusive, causing a debate among
health care professionals. A 1998 study claims that women who have
been exposed to the long-banned pesticide Dieldrin were twice as
likely to develop breast cancer, compared to women with only low
traces of Dieldrin in their blood. Other small studies have shown
similar results. However, an equal number of studies, including two
larger studies on Dieldrin, have produced opposite results: that
there is no link between high traces of Diedrin in the blood and an
increased incidence of breast cancer.
PCB and DDT, both banned pesticides, were also once thought
to cause breast cancer. In 1976, blood samples were taken from women
to check for levels of 48 different pesticides. In 1996, researchers
re-tested the blood of 240 women who developed breast cancer and 477
women who did not. The results of the study revealed that there was
no correlation between breast cancer and PCB or DDT.
Stephen Safe, a toxicology professor at Texas A&M
University does not believe exposure to Dieldrin, PCB, or DDT causes
breast cancer. Though he is careful not to completely dismiss the
results of small studies linking Dieldrin to breast cancer, Safe
told reporters he is skeptical of such studies since Dieldrin is too
weak an imitator of estrogen and is no longer widespread.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) warns that there is no
definitive link between breast cancer risk and exposure to
environmental pollutants, such as the pesticide DDE (chemically
related to DDT), and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). While
researchers continue to search for possible environmental factors
for increased risk of breast cancer, the ACS suggests that women
follow the following preventive measures for early detection:
- Women 20 years of age and older should perform breast self-examination
(BSE) every month.
- Women 20-39 should have a physical
examination
of the breast (CBE or clinical breast exam) at least every three
years, performed by health care professional such as a physician,
physician assistant, nurse or nurse practitioner. CBE may often be
received in the same appointment as a Pap smear.
- Women 20-39 should also perform monthly BSE.
- Women 40 and older should have a physical examination of
the breast (CBE or clinical breast exam) every year, performed by
a health care professional, such as a physician, physician
assistant, nurse or nurse practitioner. CBE can often be performed
in the same visit as mammogram. Monthly BSE should also be
performed.
- Women 40 years of age and older should have a screening
mammogram every year in addition to annual CBE and monthly BSE.
Some physicians
recommend a woman should begin screening mammography at an age ten
years earlier than the age her mother was diagnosed with breast
cancer.
Click here for more
information on the early detection of breast cancer
.
Additional Resources and
References:
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