DES Daughters at Higher Risk of Breast Cancer - CME Teaching Brief� - MedPage Today
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BOSTON, Aug. 7 -- Women whose mothers took the synthetic estrogen DES (diethylstilbestrol) have a sharply increased risk of breast cancer once they are 40 or older, according to researchers here.
"This is really unwelcome news because so many women worldwide were prenatally exposed to DES, and these women are just now approaching the age at which breast cancer becomes more common," said Julie Palmer, Sc.D., of the Boston University School of Public Health here.
The so-called DES daughters -- perhaps as many as two million in the U.S. -- were already known to be at higher risk of clear cell carcinoma of the vagina and cervix and their mothers have already been shown to be at higher risk of breast cancer.
But the current study, published in the August issue of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, is the first to show clearly that the DES daughters are at higher risk of breast cancer as they age than are women who weren't exposed to the drug, Dr. Palmer and colleagues said.
Posted by gruwell at August 8, 2006 9:45 AM | TrackBack