- A chemical widely used in food packaging may be a contributing
factor to women developing breast cancer, scientists have suggested.
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- The study links the compound to the development of hormone
sensitive tissue in mice and has prompted environmental campaigners to
call for far tighter regulation of such chemicals.
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- Experiments at Tufts University School of Medicine in
Boston, Massachusetts, have potentially worrying implications for human
health since they suggest mammary glands of female mice grow in a way that
makes them more likely to develop breast cancer and also to respond unusually
to oestrogen, which fuels most breast cancer in humans.
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- The compound involved is called bisphenol-A or BPA. It
is used in plastic food containers, cans and dental sealants and other
research suggests it leaches from products and is absorbed in low concentrations
by the human body,
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- The scientists behind the latest findings say in the
journal Endocrinology that they are involved in further work to test the
hypothesis that exposure in the womb and shortly after birth to BPA in
particular, and to oestrogens in general, might increase people's susceptibility
to breast cancer.
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- It is the second report in a week to raise concerns about
widely used chemicals. Research has also shown that phthalates, often found
in plastics, affects the genital development of baby boys.
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- The Tufts researchers report "persistent alterations"
to mammary gland development after giving doses of BPA to pregnant mice
which were designed to mimic levels humans are likely to be exposed to.
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- The rodents were treated late in pregnancy and about
four days after birth. The offspring were checked as they reached puberty
about 30 days later. The researchers found large increases in the number
and density of terminal end buds, part of the mammary gland structure where
breast tumours start in both animals and humans.
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- They also found a drop in the number of cells programmed
for death, the natural defence mechanism by which the body gets rid of
damaged cells that might become cancerous. Animals exposed to higher doses
of BPA developed mammary glands more sensitive to oestrogen.
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- Professor Frederick vom Saal, of the University of Missouri-Columbia,
commenting on the findings, said: "This is of tremendous concern because
this is clearly a study that is relevant to human exposure levels to this
chemical."
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- Gwynne Lyons, a policy adviser to environment group WWF
UK, suggested that humans and wildlife were being put at risk. "Because
industry wants business as usual, the UK government and regulatory authorities
in the European Union member states are not adequately controlling these
gender-bending chemicals and are fighting shy of pressing industry to come
up with safer chemicals."
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- A study to be published this week in the Journal of the
National Cancer Institute will raise questions over the long-term daily
use of the pain-killer ibuprofen by suggesting it may increase breast cancer
risk.
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- Researchers at the University of Southern California
studied the health histories of 114,000 women and compared them to the
pills and medicine they said they had taken.
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- The painkiller is widely available over the counter and
has long been seen as one of the safest drugs. Researchers say further
study of its possible effects is needed because of the public health impact
should the findings be confirmed.
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- But there is better news for women diagnosed with cancer
who may choose to preserve their fertility by freezing eggs before they
undergo chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
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- Existing freezing and thawing techniques can damage the
eggs but scientists from the University of Michigan told a conference in
Istanbul yesterday they had developed a promising process called vitrification,
already tried in mice and scheduled for trials of women this autumn. This
instantly freezes the eggs, preventing the formation of dangerous ice crystals.
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2005
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/food/Story/0,2763,1495255,00.html
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