Asymmetrical Breasts May Raise Cancer Risk

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Another expert said that differences in size may or may not be noticeable, depending on breast size.

"One hundred milliliters is about a seven-tablespoon difference," said Dr. Paul Ian Tartter, senior attending surgeon at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Comprehensive Breast Center and associate professor of surgery at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, in New York City. The larger the overall breast size, the less noticeable that amount of asymmetry would be, he said.

He calls the new research "a thought-provoking study but it raises a lot more questions than answers." For instance, he said, "I would expect the larger breast to be at higher risk for breast cancer," because there is more breast tissue and more exposure to estrogen. "But they didn't find that."

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The study needs to be duplicated, he said, and might not bear out.

Meanwhile, he said, women shouldn't be alarmed or concerned, noting that future studies may not replicate the link. And there is nothing a woman can do if this does turn out to be a risk, he noted. "It's not as if there is something here a woman [with very asymmetrical breasts] can change."

More information

For more on breast cancer, visit the American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org ).

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