Researchers at the University of Arizona (UA) have just released the findings of a study that explored the connection between bone density and breast cancer in post-menopausal women.  In the study, which followed almost 10,000 women for eight years or more, the women with the highest bone density also had a higher rate of breast cancer during the course of the study.

The UA research team, led by Dr. Zhao Chen, utilized data gathered from 40 clinics at various locations in the United States.  All clinics supplying data are participating in the Women’s Health Initiative, a program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.  All the study participants were post-menopausal, with an average age of 63.

Chen’s team compared bone mineral density levels with each woman’s Gail risk model score at the beginning of the study then followed up for about eight years with each woman to document any new cases of breast cancer.  The Gail risk model is a tool frequently used to assess a woman’s risk of developing invasive breast cancer in the coming five years as well as over the course of her lifetime.  The risk assessment is used on women 35 years old and older.

As was expected, the women with the highest Gail scores were found to be at increased risk of developing invasive breast cancer by about 35%.  What the study also revealed was that, with every unit increase in mineral density of the total hip bone, the risk of developing cancer increased by 25%.  The highest rates of cancer revealed in the Chen study were in women who had high scores in both the Gail and bone mineral density tests.

The research teams suggests adding bone mineral density testing to the standard roster of breast cancer risk assessment tools for a more comprehensive analysis of a woman’s risk of getting breast cancer during her life.  Although the Gail risk assessment is a highly rated assessment tool, it isn’t always available.  In such a case, a test of bone mineral density could be used instead to better determine a woman’s risk of cancer.

Chen, working from UA’s Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, says every diagnosis of osteoporosis must be treated effectively, since comparing bone density and Gail scores alone does not address the medical complications of mineral depletion in the bones.  She also expresses interest in conducting additional studies that will entail a more culturally diverse group of women.

Full details of the Chen study are available in the September 1 online edition of CANCER, a journal published by the American Cancer Society.

Source: Blackwell Publishing