• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Ranchers.net

. Uneven Breast Size Signals Higher Cancer Risk

The greater the size difference between a woman's breasts, the greater her risk of developing breast cancer, according to a British study of over 250 women.

"This is the first evidence of a possible link between breast asymmetry and predisposition to breast cancer," said Dr. Diane Scutt, director of research in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Liverpool, who headed the study.

Dr. Scutt's team calculated the breast asymmetry of 252 cancer-free women who later developed breast cancer and compared them to 252 women without cancer.

Women who developed breast cancer had higher breast asymmetry than the healthy controls, the researchers found.

It turned out that the relative odds of developing breast cancer were 1.5 for every 100 milliliters difference. That is, risk increased by 50 percent for each 100 milliliters of asymmetry.

One hundred milliliters is about the equivalent of 7 tablespoons, said experts.

Why asymmetry might increase risk is not certain, Scutt said.

"Breasts develop rapidly just prior to and during puberty," she said, "and the importance of estrogen in the development and growth of breasts is well-established.

"Symmetrical-breast development may well be an indicator of an individual's ability to tolerate 'disruptive' hormonal variation while maintaining developmental stability."

The study was published in the journal Breast Cancer Research
Top