Risk: Cancer link to women with larger breasts

Women with a large bust may be more likely to develop breast cancer, US scientists say. A study of 16,000 women found genetic mutations associated with breast size are also linked to the cancer.

Some of these are involved in regulating the female sex hormone oestrogen, which can trigger the growth of breasts and tumours, researchers say. The genetic code of the women, all of European origin, was read by scientists who looked through millions of tiny mutations in their DNA, called singlenucleotide polymorphisms.

Out of seven that were strongly linked to breast size, three were also associated with breast cancer. The link was seen regardless of the women’s age, pregnancy and breastfeeding history and genetic ancestry, according to the study published in the journal BMC Medical Genetics.

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http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2350/13/53/abstract