Left-handed women are more than twice as likely as right-handers to suffer from breast cancer before reaching menopause, Dutch scientists said on Monday. More than a million women are diagnosed with breast cancer worldwide each year. Three quarters of cases occur after menopause, which usually begins around the age of 50. Some studies have shown that lesbians are at a higher risk of breast cancer than heterosexual women of the same age.
Researchers at the University Medical Center in Utrecht in the Netherlands speculate that there is a shared origin early in life for both left-handedness and developing breast cancer, possibly exposure to hormones in the womb. "Left-handedness is associated with breast cancer, most specifically premenopausal breast cancer," said Cuno Uiterwaal, an assistant professor of clinical epidemiology at the university, in an interview.
He and his colleagues studied 12,000 healthy middle-aged women born between 1932 and 1941 who were part of a breast-screening program. The scientists determined the hand preference of each woman and followed up on her medical history to see which women developed breast cancer.
"If we take premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer, then there was a 40% increased risk," Uiterwaal said of left-handed women who participated in the study. Upon further study, however, the scientists found most of the excess risk was in breast cancer before menopause. "We found that left-handed women are more than twice as likely to develop premenopausal breast cancer as non-left-handed women," the researchers said in the report published online by the British Medical Journal.
Other risk factors such as family history of breast cancer, numbers of pregnancies, smoking habits, and social and economic status were considered.
About 8% to 9% of all women are left-handed. But the scientists said the findings should not alarm them. "What our study intends to do is focus on this area. We do not know all the causes of breast cancer; that is why we should continue. This may be one new factor that leads us to a better understanding of the etiology," Uiterwaal added.
About 5% to 10% of breast cancers are hereditary. Most are due to mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. The earlier the illness is diagnosed and treated, the better the prognosis is for the woman.
"Although the underlying mechanisms remain elusive, our results support the hypothesis that left-handedness is related to increased risk of breast cancer," the researchers added. (Reuters, with additional reporting by Advocate.com)
These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.
Be the first to comment on this story.
If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above.
All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.
Comments that do not concern specific articles in The Advocate or on Advocate.com will not be posted or published. See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.
Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.
Home | Contact | Current Issue | LGBT Community Partners | Staff
Advertise With Us | Jobs | Help
Subscribe: Print Edition Digital Edition | Subscriber Services: Print Edition Digital Edition
Visit our Websites
Out.com | OutTraveler.com | HIVPlusMag.com | Alyson.com | Gay.com | PlanetOut.com
Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Community Guidelines | Legal Notice
Advocate.com © 2008 PlanetOut Inc. All Rights Reserved.