Pregnancy-related breast cancer clues found

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago claim to have explained the reason behind the aggressiveness and frequency of pregnancy-associated breast cancer. According to the new research, expression of inflammatory-related genes in breast tissue of women who have previously given birth may be behind the crime.

Pregnancy at a relatively young age reduces the risk of breast cancer over the long term, but epidemiological studies have found that women are at an increased risk for breast cancer during pregnancy and for up to 10 years after giving birth, said Debra Tonetti, associate professor of pharmacology and lead researcher on the study.

She added that these pregnancy-associated breast cancers also carry an unusually high risk of spreading to nearby organs and for lethality as compared to breast cancers in women who have never been pregnant.