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American Morning

'Paging Dr. Gupta'

Aired February 17, 2004 - 08:46   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Women who use increased amounts of antibiotics appear to run a greater risk of getting breast cancer. That's according to a new study.
Joining us this morning from the CNN Center to talk a little bit more about what the researchers found, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Hey, Sanjay. Good morning again.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Yes, you hear a lot about breast cancer and it's associations with things like hormone replacement therapy, alcohol use and obesity, but now a new study, a large study, out of "The Journal of the American Medical Association" may add another risk factor to that already growing list as well.

This is an observational study, meaning, again, there is no cause and effect here. And researchers noted something, observed something very interesting after following 10,000 women for 17 years, specifically looking at their use of antibiotics, and their risk of breast cancer. Here's what they found: Antibiotics appear to be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The type of antibiotics did not matter. If you were taking it for a respiratory infection, rosaish (ph) or acne, it did not matter. And the more antibiotics you took, the higher the risk.

Very interesting, specifically if you look at the number now. Looking at the amount -- number of days of antibiotics use over 17 years. On average, women who used antibiotics for more than 500 days over 17 years had a twofold increased of breast cancer, compared to those women who took much fewer antibiotics, or no antibiotics at all.

Again, Soledad, this is an association sort of study. An observational study, no cause and effect. But is there a relationship between infections, between inflammation and the subsequent development of cancer? That's going to be something that's going to be worth studying even more in the future -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: So if it's not causal, as you say, is the next step, it seems like you're saying, is to examine what really is that link? And what are the expectations? That it's the infections, the illness itself that that's link and not necessarily the antibiotics per se?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, it's a good question. They don't really know yet. The antibiotics themselves, you know, people have been taking antibiotics for years, for decades, for centuries, and with really little ill effect, except for the fact that we probably overuse them.

But is there something else about the women who took antibiotics? Is there something that also predisposed them? We call that in the scientific world confounding factors.

For example, take a look at the list here. The woman who are using antibiotics a lot were also women who tended to be older, women who started their period earlier, had a higher body mass index -- we talked a lot about that -- family history was stronger, and they were more likely to use hormone replacement therapy. So all those things could possibly confound us as well.

But it's an interesting point, Soledad. Is it the infection? Is it inflammation? Is it the antibiotics? Or is it these confounding factors? That's what they're going to study when they say further studies are going to be needed -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: You talk about risks and links. But how much more of a risk is there to a woman taking antibiotics to, I guess you'd say, someone in the control group.

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, they looked at the control group. They also looked at some other things, like, for example, hormone replacement therapy. With the control group, they showed it was about a doublefold increase in the women who were taking lots of antibiotics versus others. But there was also a profound difference if you compare that to hormone replacement therapy as well, which is what a lot of people think of.

We talked to a lot of doctors about this particular thing. This is what one doctor had to say:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: So there you see, Soledad, doubling the risk of women who are using chronic antibiotics. Again, so you can get a sense of just how increased the risk is there.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Sanjay, quick question for you, and I think we do this a lot where we sort of talk about a study, and then the doctors come out and say, but we don't want any women to stop taking her antibiotics. I mean, it seems very contradictory. What's the advice? What should women do at this point?

GUPTA: Well, I think it's always important to inform people as much as possible, but throw in those caveats as well. I think it's always a good opportunity to talk about antibiotics. We do overuse antibiotics in this country. There are some tips for trying to avoid overuse, if you think that you're using them too much. Don't demand an antibiotic from your doctor. Take them only for bacterial infections. Take them as prescribed. Don't take leftover antibiotics as well.

As far as breast cancer goes, we know how to treat breast cancer in so many different ways -- get your mammograms early, make sure you're following up with your doctor, don't stop taking your antibiotics for now. We'll keep you posted on any details as they come -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay, thanks a lot.

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 - 08:46   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Women who use increased amounts of antibiotics appear to run a greater risk of getting breast cancer. That's according to a new study.
Joining us this morning from the CNN Center to talk a little bit more about what the researchers found, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Hey, Sanjay. Good morning again.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

Yes, you hear a lot about breast cancer and it's associations with things like hormone replacement therapy, alcohol use and obesity, but now a new study, a large study, out of "The Journal of the American Medical Association" may add another risk factor to that already growing list as well.

This is an observational study, meaning, again, there is no cause and effect here. And researchers noted something, observed something very interesting after following 10,000 women for 17 years, specifically looking at their use of antibiotics, and their risk of breast cancer. Here's what they found: Antibiotics appear to be associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. The type of antibiotics did not matter. If you were taking it for a respiratory infection, rosaish (ph) or acne, it did not matter. And the more antibiotics you took, the higher the risk.

Very interesting, specifically if you look at the number now. Looking at the amount -- number of days of antibiotics use over 17 years. On average, women who used antibiotics for more than 500 days over 17 years had a twofold increased of breast cancer, compared to those women who took much fewer antibiotics, or no antibiotics at all.

Again, Soledad, this is an association sort of study. An observational study, no cause and effect. But is there a relationship between infections, between inflammation and the subsequent development of cancer? That's going to be something that's going to be worth studying even more in the future -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: So if it's not causal, as you say, is the next step, it seems like you're saying, is to examine what really is that link? And what are the expectations? That it's the infections, the illness itself that that's link and not necessarily the antibiotics per se?

GUPTA: Yes, you know, it's a good question. They don't really know yet. The antibiotics themselves, you know, people have been taking antibiotics for years, for decades, for centuries, and with really little ill effect, except for the fact that we probably overuse them.

But is there something else about the women who took antibiotics? Is there something that also predisposed them? We call that in the scientific world confounding factors.

For example, take a look at the list here. The woman who are using antibiotics a lot were also women who tended to be older, women who started their period earlier, had a higher body mass index -- we talked a lot about that -- family history was stronger, and they were more likely to use hormone replacement therapy. So all those things could possibly confound us as well.

But it's an interesting point, Soledad. Is it the infection? Is it inflammation? Is it the antibiotics? Or is it these confounding factors? That's what they're going to study when they say further studies are going to be needed -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: You talk about risks and links. But how much more of a risk is there to a woman taking antibiotics to, I guess you'd say, someone in the control group.

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, they looked at the control group. They also looked at some other things, like, for example, hormone replacement therapy. With the control group, they showed it was about a doublefold increase in the women who were taking lots of antibiotics versus others. But there was also a profound difference if you compare that to hormone replacement therapy as well, which is what a lot of people think of.

We talked to a lot of doctors about this particular thing. This is what one doctor had to say:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: So there you see, Soledad, doubling the risk of women who are using chronic antibiotics. Again, so you can get a sense of just how increased the risk is there.

O'BRIEN: Hey, Sanjay, quick question for you, and I think we do this a lot where we sort of talk about a study, and then the doctors come out and say, but we don't want any women to stop taking her antibiotics. I mean, it seems very contradictory. What's the advice? What should women do at this point?

GUPTA: Well, I think it's always important to inform people as much as possible, but throw in those caveats as well. I think it's always a good opportunity to talk about antibiotics. We do overuse antibiotics in this country. There are some tips for trying to avoid overuse, if you think that you're using them too much. Don't demand an antibiotic from your doctor. Take them only for bacterial infections. Take them as prescribed. Don't take leftover antibiotics as well.

As far as breast cancer goes, we know how to treat breast cancer in so many different ways -- get your mammograms early, make sure you're following up with your doctor, don't stop taking your antibiotics for now. We'll keep you posted on any details as they come -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Sanjay, thanks a lot.

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