COMBO HRT INCREASES BREAST DENSITY
A new study finds combination hormone therapy, but not estrogen alone, is associated with a modest increase in breast density, a risk factor for breast cancer. University of California Los Angeles researchers write in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute the degree of breast cancer risk associated with breast density is greater than that associated with almost all other known risk factors. An earlier analysis of data from the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions Trial, which looked at the effects of postmenopausal hormone therapy -- estrogen alone or estrogen plus three different progestin regimens -- on breast density showed some women who used a combo treatment experienced an increase in breast density but it did not quantify it. The UCLA researchers looked at digitized mammograms at baseline and after one year of HRT therapy from 571 postmenopausal women in the PEPI trial. They found use of estrogen/progestin combination therapy was associated with 3 percent to 5 percent increases in breast density but use of estrogen alone was not associated with such increases.
MATERNAL SMOKING, NARROWED AIRWAYS LINKED TO SIDS
Australian researchers say women who smoke during pregnancy can put their babies at risk for sudden infant death syndrome. They write in the January issue of the American Thoracic Society's peer-reviewed American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine a study of airway and other tissues, together with autopsy data from 32 infants who died of SIDS, concludes maternal smoking during pregnancy alters airway structure. The investigators said alterations from in utero cigarette smoke exposure are those likely to cause excessive airway narrowing in response to irritants encountered after birth. Such narrowing could account for the symptoms and abnormal lung function in exposed infants. The investigators believe the level of change in the inner airway wall of babies exposed in the womb may be dose-related, particularly in mothers who smoked more than 20 cigarettes per day.
COMBO CANCER TESTS HELP DEFINE SCREENING INTERVALS
National Cancer Institute researchers say women who have negative Pap tests along with negative tests for cervical cancer-causing human papillomavirus DNA might not need to be screened as often for cervical cancer as women who have positive results. Dr. Mark E. Sherman and colleagues examined the risk of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia 3 or cervical cancer among more than 20,000 women who received simultaneous screening with a Pap test and an HPV DNA test. They found women with negative Pap and HPV baseline tests were at low risk for cervical cancer in the next 45 months. In contrast, women with a positive HPV test and a negative Pap test remain at risk and should continue routine screening.
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(EDITORS: For more information on BREAST DENSITY, contact Linda Wang at (301) 841-1287 or e-mail [email protected]. For SMOKING SIDS, Cathy Carlomagno, (212) 315-6442 or [email protected], and CERVICAL CANCER, Linda Wang, (301) 841-1287 or [email protected])
