Cancer Risk

Statins, the popular medications used to control cholesterol and stave off heart attacks, appear to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer, researchers are to report today. The finding by researchers at the University of Michigan is part of a growing number of studies that are pinpointing new roles for the most widely prescribed class of drugs in the United States. Globally, statins, which include Zocor, Lipitor, Crestor and Pravachol, account for an estimated $20 billion in annual sales.

One in four cases of breast cancer in post-menopausal women who have not used hormone replacement therapy is caused by weight gain, but the risk can be substantially lowered by losing weight, researchers reported today. Researchers found that if the women lost at least 22 pounds, they could reduce their risk of breast cancer by about 40 percent. If they kept the weight off for at least four years, the risk was reduced by 60 percent. "Weight is one of the few risk factors for breast cancer women can do something about," said lead author A. Heather Eliassen, an epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.

Recent research shows that starting an exercise program at a young age may help to prevent breast cancer in women. In 1840, the average woman started to menstruate at age 16.5. Now, 150 years later, she starts to menstruate at age 12.9. That's a decrease of more than 3 months per decade over the last century and a half.This earlier start of menstruation is probably caused by the extra calories women take in and do not burn. After all, over the last 150 years, modern conveniences and mass production of food have helped women exercise less and eat more.

Researchers have been struggling to tease out breast cancer risk factors, and have long thought that diets high in total fat might be a culprit. But a just-released four-year study of more than 60,000 Swedish women suggests that the kind of fat you eat may be more important than the amount.In that study, eating more monounsaturated fat (monos) appeared to protect women against breast cancer, while eating more polyunsaturated fats (polys) appeared to increase breast cancer risks. Saturated fat (satfat)

The American Cancer Society in Annapolis is sponsoring a tribute to the late Aris Allen that it hopes will spread the word about early cancer prevention among low-income people in the county.Guest speaker Marilyn Quayle, Vice President Dan Quayle's wife, has been affected by the disease."Breast cancer is an issue for which she gives a great deal of time," said her chief of staff, Marguerite Sullivan, explaining that Marilyn Quayle's mother died of cancer.At the dinner, which will beheld Jan. 23 at the Annapolis Ramada Inn, the cancer society will announce the formation of a lecture series designed to promote cancer detection and early protection among people who may not see doctors regularly.

Dear Dr. Solomon: I started using a mouthwash after a dental hygienist recommended it. But it burned my mouth so much that I soon stopped using it. I usually follow the recommendations of my doctor and dentist, but I'm wondering if something that burns as much as that mouthwash can actually be good for you. -- Dale, Reston, Va.Dear Dale: I suggest you check the mouthwash for its alcohol content. The results of a study indicate that the regular use of a mouthwash that has a high alcohol content may increase the risk of oral and pharyngeal cancer.

"We're all customers for cancer -- no one has an advantage," according to Michael Simic, an oncology researcher from the University Pennsylvania School of Medicine.Dr. Simic was the moderator of a Roundtable Discussion on Nutritional Strategies to Prevent Cancer, part of a weeklong international seminar on cancer prevention held here in late April.The roundtable was designed to help figure out how each of us can use research information to reduce our cancer risks.Clearly, improved eating habits would be a big step.

The risks of cancer from pesticides and other synthetic chemicals in the American diet are "quite insignificant" compared with the natural toxins that make up more than 99 percent of the cancer-causing substances we ingest, researchers say."Our results indicate that many ordinary foods would not pass the regulatory criteria used for synthetic chemicals," said scientists from the University of California at Berkeley, in an article published in today's issue of the journal Science.The scientists said people should not worry unduly about developing cancer from natural toxins, but they did say that regulatory agencies concerned with protecting Americans from cancer risks should place more emphasis on studying carcinogens that occur naturally.

ROCKVILLE -- After more than 12 years of delay and sometimes acrimonious debate, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued revised safety regulations yesterday that it said would reduce the risk of radiation-induced cancers among people who work in and live near nuclear facilities.Independent nuclear experts and anti-nuclear groups, however, promptly rejected as inadequate and outdated the NRC's measures, which are the first full-scale revision of U.S. radiation safety regulations in 30 years.

Q. I have recently finished six months of treatment for breast cancer, including mastectomy, chemotherapy and 33 radiation treatments. I had been taking DHEA after reading that it was like a natural fountain of youth. Now I feel that this must have had something to do with my breast cancer.There is a lot of breast cancer in my family, but all six of my aunts were postmenopausal when they got it. I was pre-menopausal.I now know that the body turns DHEA into estrogen and testosterone, and it bothers me that it could be on the market without a warning on the label.