[ad_1]
A new study suggests that women with high levels of a hormone that can be detected by a simple blood test may have a higher risk of breast cancer.
Those who have high levels of anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) – which indicates the size of a woman's ovarian reserve – are 60% more likely to develop breast cancer than women with low levels of hormone.
The tests for the hormone are already incorporated in fertility tests.
Charity Breast Cancer Now, who helped fund research, said measures could be taken to determine whether adding the test to current prediction tools could help identify women at risk.
Now at present, we support nearly 380 researchers and are funding 85 research grants worth nearly £ 25 million in 31 institutions in the UK and Ireland. Learn more ▸ https://t.co/XlzGb659Zp #CharityTuesday pic.twitter.com/rmy2RMem22
– Breast cancer now (@breastcancernow) September 18, 2018
Researchers at New York University School of Medicine (NYU) examined blood samples from nearly 6,000 premenopausal women in the United States and Europe.
They analyzed data from 10 studies – including the Breast Cancer Now Generations study at the Institute of Cancer Research in London – to examine the association of AMH levels with breast cancer risk.
They found that people with the highest levels of hormone were more likely to develop breast cancer.
Publishing their findings in the International Journal of Cancer, the authors said that the hormone is a "possible biomarker" of breast cancer.
Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte of the NYU School of Medicine said, "The link we found between anti-mullerian hormone and breast cancer risk is interesting because few markers of risk in the blood have been identified in premenopausal women.
"Our study has revealed a moderate increase in risk and we hope that additional markers can now be found to significantly improve individual risk prediction."
Co-author Anthony Swerdlow, a professor of epidemiology at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, who heads the Breast Cancer Generations study, added: "In the future, anti-Mullerian hormone could be considered for predict the risk of developing the disease.
"The causes of breast cancer are very complex and not yet fully understood. Pooling large sets of data is essential to understanding how different causes interact and affect the risk of breast cancer.
Baroness Delyth Morgan, Executive Director of Breast Cancer Now, said, "The discovery that high levels of anti-Mullerian hormone in the blood might indicate that women are at increased risk for breast cancer is very promising.
"We now need to understand if adding this blood test to current prediction tools could help women get a better idea of their risks and identify those who might benefit from more frequent or frequent screening." preventive measures such as tamoxifen.
[ad_2]
Source link
