Cadmium Exposure And Risk Of Breast Cancer:

[Guest guest]

>Cadmium Exposure And Risk Of Breast Cancer:

 

>http://www.thenhf.com/newsflash_09.htm

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>July 2003, Georgetown University Medical Center

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>Washington, D.C. -- For the first time, there is scientific evidence

>that exposure to cadmium, a naturally occurring metal, may be a direct

>risk factor for developing breast cancer in a woman and her unborn baby.

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>Published in today's online version of Nature Medicine, researchers at

>the Lombardi Cancer Center at Georgetown University studied cadmium and

>its uncanny ability to mimic estrogen's effects on the body. When

>exposed to low doses of cadmium, female rats show an increase in mammary

>gland density and uterine weight, and changes in the endometrial lining,

>all telltale developments in the early onset of breast cancer.

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>Additionally, when pregnant rats were exposed to the same low dose,

>their female offspring experienced earlier onset of puberty and mammary

>gland development.

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>Early onset of puberty can increase a woman's chance for getting cancer

>by fifty percent.

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> " We never expected to see this strong a relationship, given how

>different the cadmium and estrogen compounds are, " said Mary Beth

>Martin, Ph.D., associate professor of oncology at Georgetown University

>Medical Center. " Cadmium's ability to functionally mimic estrogen and

>its affect on cell growth is quite remarkable. What we saw suggests a

>direct link between low dose cadmium exposure and increased risk for

>breast cancer. "

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>Estrogens are a family of steroidal hormones that are synthesized in a

>variety of tissues but are primarily produced in the ovaries during

>reproductive years. One of the main functions of estrogens is to promote

>the growth and differentiation of the sexual organs and other tissues

>related to reproduction. The biological effects of estrogens are

>mediated by estrogen receptors alpha and beta; molecules that bind to

>and activate these receptors may pose health risks.

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>In this study, Martin and her colleagues exposed ovariectomized rats to

>levels of cadmium comparable to the provisional tolerable weekly dietary

>intake recommended by the World Health Organization. The cadmium bound

>to and activated estrogen receptors, mimicking potentially dangerous

>estrogenic activity.

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>Cadmium is a naturally occurring metal, found in soil, rocks, and water.

>It has well known carcinogenic effects, with documented links between

>cadmium exposure and lung cancer, lung disease, and kidney damage.

>Additional studies have suggested a link to prostate cancer. People are

>exposed to cadmium by eating food grown in contaminated soil or fish

>from tainted water, but more extreme exposure comes from smoking or

>interaction with smelting, welding or shipbuilding. Smoking doubles the

>average daily intake of cadmium.

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> " There is great concern about what is an acceptable level of

>environmental exposure to certain carcinogens, and how do those

>exposures affect our risk for getting cancer, " said Martin. " The more we

>learn about how this works in rats and eventually people, the better

>lifestyle choices women can make. "

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>The Lombardi Cancer Center, part of Georgetown University Medical Center

>and Georgetown University Hospital, seeks to improve the diagnosis,

>treatment, and prevention of cancer through innovative basic and

>clinical research, patient care, community education and outreach, and

>the training of cancer specialists of the future. Lombardi is one of

>only 39 comprehensive cancer centers in the nation, as designated by the

>National Cancer Institute, and the only one in the Washington DC area.

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