Study: Exposure to famine increased breast cancer risk

<br>WASHINGTON (AP) _ Women who as children were severely affected by a World War II-caused Dutch famine have an increased risk of breast cancer, a new study says. <br><br>The finding, if confirmed, suggests

Tuesday, April 6th 2004, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Women who as children were severely affected by a World War II-caused Dutch famine have an increased risk of breast cancer, a new study says.

The finding, if confirmed, suggests the calories-and-cancer link may be even more complex than anticipated.

Animal studies show cutting calories by a third to a half, long-term, can prevent various cancers. Evidence in people is scant, but studies in Norway suggest women who experienced modest World War II rationing there were less likely to develop breast cancer.

Conversely, obesity increases the risk of certain cancers, including breast cancer.

The newest research, in Wednesday's Journal of the National Cancer Institute, raises the possibility that a short period of severe malnourishment can spur breast cancer.

Parts of the Netherlands experienced famine for six months starting in fall 1944 because of a German-imposed food embargo. Official adult daily rations dropped to 700 calories, leaving residents foraging for more, wrote researchers at the University Medical Center Utrecht.

A Dutch cancer registry in the 1980s surveyed almost 20,000 women about their experiences during the famine, including their recall of hunger and weight loss. The registry tracked the women's later development of breast cancer.

The Utrecht scientists randomly chose 2,355 of those women, 585 of whom had developed breast cancer by January 2000.

Those who recalled being severely affected by the famine were 48 percent more likely to have developed breast cancer than unaffected women, they found. The risk was largest, a doubling, among those who were ages 2 to 9 during the famine.

The researchers hypothesized that the children's developing hormone systems may have adapted to famine and couldn't readapt to later food abundance, ultimately increasing cancer risk.