Breast cancer risk high in young smokers

While there is never a good time smoke, recent research shows that women who light up before their first full-term pregnancy may slightly increase their risk of breast cancer after menopause. Those who start smoking after having their first child, on the other hand, appear to be no more likely to develop this cancer than those who never smoked. The study suggests that breast cancer prevention needs to start in adolescence, when young women are making decisions about smoking. Research has consistently shown that women who delay pregnancy until a late age have an increased risk of developing breast cancer. The reason for this is, thought to be, related to changes that occur in a woman's breast tissue during pregnancy. Breast tissue before the first pregnancy is less developed and thought to be more vulnerable to the effects of things that can cause cancer, than breast tissue after a woman has had her first child. If a woman delays pregnancy, then this vulnerable tissue is around longer, and has a higher risk of be damage if she is exposed to carcinogens such as those in cigarette smoke. Previous studies have examined whether cigarette smoking increases a woman's risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, but the findings are conflicting. Some researchers reported a five-fold increased risk of the condition, while others found no increased risk. Researchers from the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine in Rochester, USA, investigated the association by analysing data on participants who were 55 to 69 year-old women. Overall, 37,105 women were identified as being at risk for cancer, including 7,095 who started smoking before their first pregnancy and 4,186 who started smoking after their first pregnancy. A total of 2,017 women developed breast cancer during the study period. Mothers who reported starting smoking before their first pregnancy were 21 percent more likely to develop breast cancer than mothers who never smoked. The findings remain true even when the researchers took into account the women's age at first pregnancy and the number of live births. Breast cancer rates among mothers who began smoking after their first pregnancy, however, were similar to those observed amongst non-smokers. This does not mean that it is healthy to start smoking after a first pregnancy. Smoking causes many health problems and should be avoided.