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Daily Dose: Antibiotics, Breast Cancer

Aired February 17, 2004 - 11:45   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Scientists say that more research is needed on a study suggesting a link between antibiotics and breast cancer.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, explains the findings in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We talk a lot about breast cancer and all of the various risk factors, including hormone replacement therapy, alcohol use, and obesity. And now, there may be another risk factor to add to the list as well. That's antibiotic use. It's sort of interesting. Stay with me here.

The "Journal of American Medical Association" studied about 10,000 women over 17 years and found what's called an observational link. Women who had an increased risk of breast cancer were also those women who took more antibiotics.

Take a look at the list here. Interesting. Antibiotics associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. That's what this study found.

The type of antibiotic didn't matter, whether you were taking it for a respiratory infection, taking it for acne, rosacea, it didn't matter. More antibiotics equaled a higher risk.

Specifically what we're talking about here is women who took 500 days' worth of antibiotics over 17 years had a doubling of their risk of breast cancer. Again, an observation, not a cause-and-effect.

Now, very interesting. Was there anything else about these women who were taking more antibiotics that might have made them more likely to also develop breast cancer? That's something else the researchers looked at. Take a look at the list of confounding factors. Women who took more antibiotics were also women who were older. They started their period earlier. They had a higher BMI, a stronger family history, and were also more likely to use hormone replacement therapy.

It's interesting, though, you know, if you look at women who take a lot of antibiotics, is it more likely that they have infections? Probably. So, could it be the infection itself that is more likely causing the increased breast cancer risk. There are all of these correlations out there -- correlations between hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer, and now perhaps between antibiotic use and breast cancer. Here is how one researcher broke it down:

DR. ROBERTA NESS, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: It's as strong as any of the risk factors that we know. I mean, to put it in perspective, the risk for developing breast cancer from hormone replacement use is about a 30 percent increase -- 30 to 40 percent increase in risk. And here, we're talking about a doubling of risk for those women who are using chronic antibiotics.

GUPTA: The bottom line is nobody, no doctor or no researcher is telling women to stop taking the antibiotics, but it's always worth mentioning that it's important to be judicious about your antibiotic use.

Here are the tips, always worth mentioning. If you are someone who takes antibiotics, don't demand antibiotics from your doctor. You need to be judicious about that. Take them only for bacterial infections. They don't work for viral infections. Take them only as prescribed. Don't use leftover antibiotics.

Also, women concerned about breast cancer, make sure to be following up with your doctor and getting your mammogram. Don't stop your antibiotics for now.

We'll keep you posted as the details come around.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired February 17, 2004 - 11:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Scientists say that more research is needed on a study suggesting a link between antibiotics and breast cancer.
Our medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, explains the findings in our "Daily Dose" of health news.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We talk a lot about breast cancer and all of the various risk factors, including hormone replacement therapy, alcohol use, and obesity. And now, there may be another risk factor to add to the list as well. That's antibiotic use. It's sort of interesting. Stay with me here.

The "Journal of American Medical Association" studied about 10,000 women over 17 years and found what's called an observational link. Women who had an increased risk of breast cancer were also those women who took more antibiotics.

Take a look at the list here. Interesting. Antibiotics associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. That's what this study found.

The type of antibiotic didn't matter, whether you were taking it for a respiratory infection, taking it for acne, rosacea, it didn't matter. More antibiotics equaled a higher risk.

Specifically what we're talking about here is women who took 500 days' worth of antibiotics over 17 years had a doubling of their risk of breast cancer. Again, an observation, not a cause-and-effect.

Now, very interesting. Was there anything else about these women who were taking more antibiotics that might have made them more likely to also develop breast cancer? That's something else the researchers looked at. Take a look at the list of confounding factors. Women who took more antibiotics were also women who were older. They started their period earlier. They had a higher BMI, a stronger family history, and were also more likely to use hormone replacement therapy.

It's interesting, though, you know, if you look at women who take a lot of antibiotics, is it more likely that they have infections? Probably. So, could it be the infection itself that is more likely causing the increased breast cancer risk. There are all of these correlations out there -- correlations between hormone replacement therapy and breast cancer, and now perhaps between antibiotic use and breast cancer. Here is how one researcher broke it down:

DR. ROBERTA NESS, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: It's as strong as any of the risk factors that we know. I mean, to put it in perspective, the risk for developing breast cancer from hormone replacement use is about a 30 percent increase -- 30 to 40 percent increase in risk. And here, we're talking about a doubling of risk for those women who are using chronic antibiotics.

GUPTA: The bottom line is nobody, no doctor or no researcher is telling women to stop taking the antibiotics, but it's always worth mentioning that it's important to be judicious about your antibiotic use.

Here are the tips, always worth mentioning. If you are someone who takes antibiotics, don't demand antibiotics from your doctor. You need to be judicious about that. Take them only for bacterial infections. They don't work for viral infections. Take them only as prescribed. Don't use leftover antibiotics.

Also, women concerned about breast cancer, make sure to be following up with your doctor and getting your mammogram. Don't stop your antibiotics for now.

We'll keep you posted as the details come around.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.