PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Obesity not linked to breast cancer in Mexican-American women

2010-11-09
(Press-News.org) PHILADELPHIA — Obesity was not associated with breast cancer risk in Mexican-American women, even when measured at numerous ages throughout a woman's lifetime, according to data presented at the Ninth Annual AACR Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, held here Nov. 7-10, 2010.

However, data did show that weight gain during adulthood seemed to reduce breast cancer risk, regardless of menopausal status.

"We found that for every 5 kg of weight gain there was a significant 8 percent decrease in the risk for breast cancer," said Krystal Sexton, Ph.D., a Susan G. Komen Fellow in breast cancer disparities research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health. "However, it is important that we do not send a message that gaining weight prevents breast cancer."

Instead, Sexton and colleagues in the department of epidemiology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, are hypothesizing that the reduced risk for breast cancer among overweight and obese Mexican-American women may be due to a shorter lifetime exposure to estrogen, which is associated with breast cancer.

Previous research has shown that in Mexican-American women there is an association between obesity and earlier age of menopause.

"Women in our study who did not have breast cancer were actually experiencing menopause at an earlier age — especially women who were overweight and obese — compared with women who were overweight and obese and did have breast cancer," Sexton said.

This earlier onset of menopause exposed overweight and obese women to two fewer years of estrogen throughout their lifetimes, possibly putting them at a lower risk for breast cancer, according to Sexton.

The researchers identified 155 Mexican-American women with breast cancer and compared them with 333 women of similar ages without breast cancer. Patients reported their weights at ages 15, 30 and at cancer diagnosis. They also reported weight gain between age 15 and diagnosis.

Unlike research in non-Hispanic white women, which has shown an increased risk for breast cancer in obese postmenopausal women, there was no association between body mass index and breast cancer in Mexican-American women, regardless of menopausal status.

"We know that Hispanic women have a lower incidence of breast cancer, but they continue to be diagnosed with breast cancers that have larger tumor sizes, more advanced cancer stages and poorer prognostic factors, leading to lower survival rates compared to non-Hispanic white women," Sexton said. "There is a real need to continue to try to understand why these disparities exist."

### Download interviews with cancer researchers and recordings of teleconferences by subscribing to the AACR Scientific Podcasts via iTunes (http://www.aacr.org/itunes) or an RSS Reader (http://www.aacr.org/rss).

Follow the AACR on Twitter: @AACR #AACR

Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.

END



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

A comparison of severe outcomes during the waves of pandemic (H1N1) 2009

2010-11-09
The second wave of the pandemic (H1N1) was substantially greater than the first with 4.8 times more hospital admissions, 4.6 times more deaths and 4 times more ICU cases, according to a study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj100746.pdf. However, because of the larger number of people hospitalized during the second wave compared to the first, the percentage of people with severe outcomes was smaller. The researchers compared demographic and clinical characteristics as well as outcomes of patients ...

Do not abandon new cigarette warning labels

2010-11-09
Health Canada's cancellation of plans to renew tobacco warning labels on cigarette packages may lead to increased smoking rates and smoking-related illnesses and deaths, states an editorial in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) (pre-embargo link only) http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj101583.pdf. Ten years ago, Canada was a leader in warning labels and other effective tobacco policies. Abandoning this labeling policy may be a set back for efforts in Canada, particularly as labels are now the government's only remaining mass communication initiative warning of the ...

Differences in human and Neanderthal brains set in just after birth

2010-11-09
The findings are based on comparisons of virtual imprints of the developing brain and surrounding structures (known as endocasts) derived from the skulls of modern and fossilized humans, including that of a newborn Neanderthal. Philipp Gunz of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology explained that the differences researchers observe in early brain development likely reflect changes in the underlying brain circuitry. It is that internal organization of the brain that matters most for cognitive ability. "In modern humans, the connections between diverse ...

Fusion makes major step forward at MIT through studies of the plasma edge

2010-11-09
### These new findings will be presented in three invited talks at the American Physical Society, Division of Plasma Physics 52nd annual meeting on November 8-12 in Chicago. END ...

Getting to know the sun advances fusion research

2010-11-09
Researchers at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory have successfully used Coaxial Helicity Injection (CHI) to generate plasma current and couple it to a conventional current generation method at the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) fusion experiment. After coupling, the combined process generated 1 million amperes of current using 40 percent less energy than needed to generate this current using the conventional means by itself, thus demonstrating that a high-quality initial magnetic configuration was produced by CHI. Plasma confinement devices based on ...

Imaging of Alfvén waves and fast ions in a fusion plasma

2010-11-09
Fusion plasmas in the laboratory typically reach 100 million degrees. These high temperatures are required to ignite the hydrogen plasma and maintain the fusion burn by the production of high-energy alpha particles. One challenge for a fusion reactor is how to contain the alpha particles in the vessel long enough for the particles to efficiently heat the hydrogen plasma. One way that these alpha particles can escape the fusion chamber prematurely is by exciting high frequency Alfvén waves and riding these waves to the vessel walls, like a surfer rides a wave to the beach. While ...

The many faces of the shear Alfvén wave

The many faces of the shear Alfvén wave
2010-11-09
When physicists probe the mysteries of plasma, the fourth state of matter, they often discover phenomena of striking beauty. Much as when the Hubble Space Telescope sent back vivid images from space of ionized gas clouds (an interstellar plasma!), new 3D images of shear Alfvén waves are delighting both scientists and a new generation of science enthusiasts. Plasmas support a large variety of waves. Some of these are familiar, such as light and sound waves, but a great many exist nowhere else. One of the fundamental waves in magnetized plasma is the shear Alfvén wave, ...

Plasma as a fast optical switch

2010-11-09
Just like an electrical switch allows the flow of electricity into electrical circuits, relativistic transparency in plasma can act like a fast optical switch allowing the flow of light through otherwise opaque plasma. Modern day lasers, such as the Trident laser in Los Alamos National Laboratory delivers a 200 terawatt power pulse (roughly 400 times the average electrical consumption of the United States) in half a trillionth of a second (picosecond) time. As shown in Fig. 1, when the laser power reaches a threshold limit, relativistic transparency in plasma turns the ...

Scientists unlock the secrets of exploding plasma clouds on the sun

Scientists unlock the secrets of exploding plasma clouds on the sun
2010-11-09
The Sun sporadically expels trillions of tons of million-degree hydrogen gas in explosions called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Such clouds—an example is shown in Figure 1a—are enormous in size (spanning millions of miles) and are made up of magnetized plasma gases, so hot that hydrogen atoms are ionized. CMEs are rapidly accelerated by magnetic forces to speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second to upwards of 2,000 kilometers per second in several tens of minutes. CMEs are closely related to solar flares and, when they impinge on the Earth, can trigger spectacular auroral ...

Taming thermonuclear plasma with a snowflake

Taming thermonuclear plasma with a snowflake
2010-11-09
Physicists working on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory are now one step closer to solving one of the grand challenges of magnetic fusion research—how to reduce the effect that the hot plasma has on fusion machine walls (or how to tame the plasma-material interface). Some heat from the hot plasma core of a fusion energy device escapes the plasma and can interact with reactor vessel walls. This not only erodes the walls and other components, but also contaminates the plasma—all challenges for practical fusion. One method ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

New study links grain foods to healthier diet patterns, metabolic health and everyday accessibility

Korea University College of Medicine explores 'Health for Humanity' at K-CLUB International Symposium with world-renowned scholars

Regular walking prevents chronic back pain

Broccoli seeds can spread resistance to multiple fungicides

New AI tool addresses accuracy and fairness in data to improve health algorithms

Researchers design robot that can find, pick hidden strawberries

Effective urban planning from real-world population tracking

EWG study: PFAS water treatment has double benefits, cutting toxic PFAS and carcinogens

MIT Press expands Direct to Open (D2O) open access model in 2026 with publishing partners

Pork protein improves recovery, mood and inflammation in military cadets following combat fitness test

Mount Sinai unveils Emergency Department transformation after extensive upgrades and renovations

Uncovering language learning strategies for Japanese university students in STEM

The invisible influence: How cultural cognitive biases influence visuomotor adaptations

New sugar-based stabilizer keeps sweat sensors working under acidic conditions

Stress & Stars: Two more ERC Starting Grants for ISTA

ERC honors Hebrew University scientists for pioneering brain and language studies

Theresa Rienmüller and Robert Winkler receive ERC Starting Grants

ERC grant helps to explore innovative approaches to improve the diagnosis of ADHD in adults

Hidden chemistry of Earth’s core revealed by how it froze

IRB Barcelona researchers uncover a new strategy to tackle obesity by activating brown fat

Biological ‘moonshot’ accelerates efforts to genetically map life on Earth

New papers reveal how gut-brain interactions shape eating behaviors

Meal timing in later life may matter for health and longevity

“Cracks in the system” driving high suicide rates for autistic people

Biodegradable PET alternative bioproduced at unprecedented levels

NTU Singapore scientists develop cooling sunscreen from pollen

Efficient ethane separation from natural gas using ZIF-8 slurry

Flying blind: aviation experts call for more pilot training amid poor general aviation safety record

Unraveling the complex relationship between trade openness and carbon emissions in Asia

Towards a new era of global agricultural ecology and environmental science

[Press-News.org] Obesity not linked to breast cancer in Mexican-American women