Happy Holidays - blog postings resume in January 2020

To all Grey Horizon readers,

Thank you for your continued support of this blog.  Happy Holidays and best wishes for 2020 - postings will resume in January.

Sustained weight loss linked to reduced breast cancer risk

A new study conducted by the American Cancer Society shows that sustained weight loss in women 50 years of age and older and not using postmenopausal hormones had significantly reduced levels of breast cancer risk.  According to study findings on 180,000 women 50 and older, women who lost 2-4.5 kg had a 13% lower risk of developing cancer, while those losing 4.5-9 kg saw the risk fall to 16%, and women losing 9 kg or more had a 26% lower risk.

To read more about this study, click here.

Source mentioned: Sustained weight loss and risk of breast cancer in women >50 years: a pooled analysis of prospective data. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute; DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djz226  

Breast cancer subtype incidence in men differs from trends in women

A new study conducted by the American Cancer Society indicates that "incidence rates for hormone receptor (HR+) breast cancers are considerably higher in black men than white men, in stark contrast to lower incidence rates of those cancer subtypes in black versus white women." The study is unique as it is the first report studying rates of breast cancer racially and gender.  Findings indicate a 41% higher incidence for HR+/HER- breast cancers, 65% higher for HR+/HER2+,  among black men.

To read more about this study, click here.

 

Permanent hair dye and straighteners may increase breast cancer risk

A new study conducted at the National Institutes of Health indicates a tends towards higher risk of developing breast cancer in women who use permanent hair dye and chemical hair straighteners. Known as the Sister Study, data from 46,709 women "found that women who regularly use permanent hair dye...were 9% more likely to develop breast cancer" than those that didn't use this hair product.

Click here for more information about this study.

Study mentioned: Eberle CE, Sandler DP, Taylor KW, White AP. Hair dye and chemical straightener use and breast cancer risk in a large US population of black and white women. Int J Cancer. 2019 Dec 3. doi: 10.1002/ijc.32738 [Epub ahead of print]

People with mental illness receive less cancer screening

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis conducted in the Neurosciences Department at the University of Padua in Italy indicates that "despite increased mortality from cancer in people with mental illness, this population receives less cancer screening compared with that of the general population."

To read more about these findings, click here.

Study mentioned:

Solmi M, Firth J, Miola A, et al. Disparities in cancer screening in people with mental illness across the world versus the general population: prevalence and comparative meta-analysis including 4 717 839 people. The Lancet Psychiatry; Published online 28 November 2019.DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30414-6