Smoking raises breast cancer risk

Females who have ever smoked have a higher risk of developing breast cancer.

Previous studies have shown that regular exercise, limiting alcohol intake, and avoiding postmenopausal obesity are lifestyle changes that reduce a woman's risk of developing breast cancer.

To study the link between cigarette smoking and breast cancer risk, researchers compared the smoking history and other breast cancer risk factors in 1,225 women who developed breast cancer and 6,872 who did not during the first year after their initial visit to the Breast Clinic at Mayo Clinic. The study defined anyone who ever smoked more than 100 cigarettes at any time as having a history of smoking, and those who smoked less were considered never-smokers.

Surveys completed during this visit indicated just over 10 percent were current smokers, almost 9 percent were former smokers, and 81 percent had never smoked.

In addition to the link with smoking, women who had used oral contraceptives for 11 years or longer had a 200 percent higher risk of developing breast cancer. Women who used postmenopausal hormone therapy had a 81 percent higher risk, while aging raised the risk of developing breast cancer by 2 percent per year. On the flip side, having a hysterectomy reduced the risk by 35 percent.

So now there is another reason for women to quit smoking – to lower their risk of developing breast cancer. However, further studies are needed to further explore this relationship.