Young women who become heavy smokers place themselves at increased risk of developing a common form of breast cancer, researchers warned yesterday.
Researchers found a 60% increase in risk for women who smoke a pack a day for at least ten years for the development of oestrogen receptor positive breast cancer.
The findings come from a study of nearly a thousand women with cancer in the Seattle area of the USA reported in the journal Cancer.
The women were aged between 20 and 44.
Researcher Dr Christopher Li, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, said: “The health hazards associated with smoking are numerous and well known.
"This study adds to our knowledge in suggesting that with respect to breast cancer, smoking may increase the risk of the most common molecular subtype of breast cancer but not influence risk of one of the rarer, more aggressive subtypes."
The researchers found no link between smoking and another form of breast cancer – triple-negative cancer.
Active smoking and risk of estrogen receptor positive and triple-negative breast cancer among women 20–44 years of age. Cancer 10 February 2014; doi:10.1002/cncr.28402 [abstract]
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