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Native women's use of smokeless tobacco may increase risk of breast cancer
WESTPORT, May 09 (Reuters Health) - Among Cherokee women in the US who use smokeless tobacco, the risk of breast cancer is nearly eight times that of women who do not use snuff, according to results of a study presented at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine in Orlando, Florida.
Dr. John G. Spangler and colleagues of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, examined the use of chewing tobacco or snuff among Eastern Band Cherokee women. The women were 18 or older and lived on tribal lands in western North Carolina.
Six percent of the Cherokee women currently used smokeless tobacco, far exceeding the national rate among women of 0.6%, the research team found, and 21% reported former use. The odds ratio for younger-onsetsers of smokeless tobacco compared with never-users.
The increase in risk "suggests that smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking," Dr. Spangler said in a press release.
He and his associates note that the findings need to be confirmed in other studies, because only five cases of younger-onset breast cancer were identified in this population, and the odds ratio for older-onset breast cancer was not significantly elevated among smokeless tobacco users.
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