Breast Cancer Risk Factors - Birth Size

Scientists have identified several risk factors that increase a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer by comparing the characteristics of populations of women with and without breast cancer.

Well-established risk factors for breast cancer include increasing age, not having children, and having a late menopause, but another potential risk factor for breast cancer is birth size.

A baby’s weight, length, and head circumference at birth (three related measures of birth size) depend on the levels of hormones (including estrogen, a hormone that often affects breast cancer growth) and other biological factors to which the baby is exposed during pregnancy—its prenatal environment. Read more

Effects of Vitamin D Deficiency

Vitamin D and Cancer

There now seems to be a connection between breast, colon and prostate cancer and a lack of Vitamin D.

Even more amazing, one expert believes 25 per cent of breast cancer deaths could be avoided if the women had maintained adequate vitamin D levels throughout their life…This raises some big questions for Australians who have been living with the sun safe message for the last 20 years.

New study links Vitamin D deficiency to breast cancer

Women deficient in vitamin D at the time of a breast cancer diagnosis are more likely to die or see the tumour spread, a Canadian study published in the United States has shown. Patients low in vitamin D were 94 per cent more likely to see their cancer metastasise and 73 per cent more likely to die from it, compared to women with normal levels of vitamin D in their blood, researchers found.

Vitamin D Deficiency Puts 40% of U.S. Infants and Toddlers At Risk

Breast-feeding is a known risk factor for low vitamin D levels in infants, which is why many pediatricians routinely recommend vitamin D supplementation for breast-fed infants……Gordon said it’s very difficult to consume too much vitamin D, so she recommends vitamin D supplements for breast-feeding infants and lactating mothers. She also recommends a multivitamin containing vitamin D for older children.

Sunshine deficiency leads to vitamin D crisis

MILLIONS of Australians are exposing themselves to bone disease, fractures, diabetes and cancers by failing to get enough vitamin D, a crucial nutrient produced when skin is exposed to sunlight. Experts have warned the highly acclaimed “Slip Slop Slap” campaign may have been taken too far by a nation terrified of skin cancer. Melbourne Pathology director Ken Sikaris, who oversees 1500 vitamin D tests a week, said the rate of deficiencies was “mind-boggling”. Read more

Breast Cancer: Protection Against Metastasis with Omega-3 Fish Oils

We showed previously that a diet rich in omega-6 fatty acids stimulates the growth and metastasis of human breast cancer cells [invasive breast cancer] in athymic nude mice. Overall, these results suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may have a place as adjuvant nutritional therapy in breast cancer and particularly as part of a neoadjuvant regimen. (Clin Cancer Res. 1996 Oct;2(10):1751-6).

Kevin Flatt’s Comment: As breast cancer can spread to the lungs, as well as other areas, you may be interested in reading about a 78-year-old man (D.H.) who was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and had only a few months to live. Five years later, without chemotherapy or surgical excision, he is still alive and has even gained a little weight thanks to omega-3’s.

Professor Ronald S. Pardini informed me (Kevin Flatt) in an email on Tuesday, 5 August 2008 that D.H.’s most recent CT scans show continued decreases in his lung cancer tumors to 99% compared with about 90% as of April 2004, as mentioned above, and he is stable.

The article also relates to breast cancer. Click here to read the article (opens in a new window).

There have been several studies that have tested this hypothesis in relation to breast cancer. Practically all of these studies found an association between a higher ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fats and reduced risk of breast cancer.

Omega 3 fats (alpha-linolenic acid, EPA, DHA) have been shown in animal studies to protect from cancer, while omega 6 fats (linoleic acid, arachidonic acid) have been found to be cancer promoting fats.

Omega-3 oils fish oils appear to protect against metastasis (spread of cancer to other organs), which is the primary cause of death among cancer patients. Fish oils are also known to prolong survival among individuals who have developed cancer. Omega-3 fish oils have also been shown to improve the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs. (PRWEB January 30, 2006). Read more

Breast Cancer Prevention with Whey Protein

Scientists have found that a modified whey protein prevents breast cancer in some laboratory rats. It’s an important medical discovery, considering that 180,000 U.S. women develop breast cancer each year, and 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer over her lifetime.

Breast cancer is a disease where a mutant cell in the breast forms a tumor. More than 60 percent of breast cancers are detected in women age 50 and over.

The researchers studied an animal model of breast cancer. Over 3 years, female Sprague Dawley rats were fed one of two diets—one containing casein, the major protein found in milk, the other containing processed whey protein, which is found in the watery liquid that separates from milk during cheese making.

The researchers have filed for a patent on the modified whey protein which Thomas M. Badger developed. The team of Agricultural Research Service funded investigators - Reza Hakkak, Martin J.J. Ronis, and J. Craig Rowlands was led by neuroendocrinologist and nutritionist Thomas M. Badger.

“One hundred percent of the rats fed the casein diet developed mammary tumors, but only about 50 percent of the whey-fed rats developed tumors,” says Badger, who is based at the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center in Little Rock. “In addition, it took longer for the mammary tumors to develop in the whey-fed rats, and they had fewer tumors.” Read more