Improved estimation of breast cancer risk could prevent many deaths
Breast cancer is a dangerous disease that threatens the health and life of many women worldwide. Researchers now found that a new method of predicting breast cancer could prevent about 30 percent of breast cancers. This would save the lives of many women.
Breast cancer screening should urgently be improved to protect more women worldwide from this form of the disease. US scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the National Cancer Institute now found in an investigation that about 30 percent of all breast cancers could be prevented if we introduced more effective methods to predict breast cancer. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "JAMA Oncology".
Breast cancer puts many women in fear. Now physicians are developing a new predictive method that could prevent up to 30 percent of all breast cancers. (Image: SENTELLO / fotolia.com)One in eight American women is suffering from breast cancer
On average, one out of eight American women suffer from breast cancer in their lifetime, the experts say. That's just a national average though. As the relative influence of genes, behavior, and environmental factors on cancer risk becomes more and more apparent, medical professionals are looking for ways to reduce the risk at these thresholds. A 30-year-old woman in the United States has a likelihood of developing breast cancer that ranges from 4.4 percent to 23.5 percent, say the authors. The new study concludes that more than 29 percent of all cases of breast cancer could be prevented if all women were looking for a healthy body weight, not using menopausal hormone therapy, and drinking and not smoking, the researchers explain.
Prediction needs to be more accurate and personalized
There have been uncertainties and quarrels among experts for quite some time, from when and how often women should get a mammogram. It is also unclear whether women should take hormone therapy or take medication to reduce their risk of breast cancer, say the doctors. It is also questionable whether any side effects are worth such treatment at all. To make clear, meaningful decisions, we need better personalized predictions that determine how large the cancer risk is for individual women, explain the authors. Some women also need a bit more motivation to make healthy behavioral changes - especially when it comes to overweight women or drinking and smoking women, the researchers add.
Standard predictive model searches for the known gene mutations BRCA 1 and BRCA
So far, the so-called Gail model has been used for standard breast cancer prediction. This risk calculator generally considered a woman's age, breast cancer in her family, onset of menstruation, number of pregnancies, breast biopsies performed, and any abnormal findings from mammograms, the researchers explain. If the family history shows other breast cancer, genetic tests look for two known gene mutations: BRCA 1 and BRCA. These can increase the fivefold risk of breast cancer in women, the experts warn. Furthermore, physicians may also consider factors such as obesity or alcohol consumption.
Study examines the data of 37,000 women
The new study by epidemiologists and biostatisticians at Johns Hopkins University and the National Cancer Institute seeks to improve the standard breast cancer prediction. It has also been found that women who develop breast cancer because of factors that they can not control, are usually those women who are the most likely to reduce the risk of breast cancer if they pay more attention to healthy body weight, do not use hormone replacement therapy and Do not smoke or drink, say the experts. For their study, the researchers analyzed data from eight different older studies. These monitored about 37,000 mostly white women in the United States, Europe and Australia, say the authors. The experts then used the data to create a risk model for the population.
The new prediction model has great potential
To determine the risk of breast cancer, which depends on fixed and unchanging factors, such as the genes, physicians researched the genetic information of women. There, they paid particular attention to 24 so-called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP), which have already been loosely associated with breast cancer, say the scientists. A further 68 SNPs, while under-researched, had a reputation for causing breast cancer. Researchers sought to understand how often they occur and how much they affect breast cancer.
In addition, they included other factors to calculate breast cancer risk. These factors have been used before. These include, for example, the onset of menstruation, pregnancies and age, explain the physicians. First, the new predictive model determines how high the risk of breast cancer is for those affected by immutable factors. It then asks for factors that can control or influence the risk of breast cancer. Such a model has great potential and could help many women reduce their risk of breast cancer in the future, the experts add.