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Smokers at Risk of Breast Cancer
Women who smoke have an increased risk of developing breast cancer, especially if they become smokers early in life, a new study suggests. But the added risk appears to be small, except among heavy smokers. Compared to women who had never smoked, those who were regular smokers for any amount of time had a 6% higher risk of developing breast cancer, the study found. Women who maintained a pack-a-day habit for at least 30 years had a 28% higher risk, however.
“I would not put [smoking] on the list of important risk factors, [but] when you look at the subgroup of heavy-duty smokers who start early and smoke for a long time, that’s more serious,” says the lead author of the study, Karin Michels, PhD, an associate professor of cancer epidemiology and ob-gyn at Harvard Medical School, in Boston. “That’s when you pay closer attention.”