Ask for Legislation to Reduce our Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

Breast Cancer UK works to reduce breast cancer rates by tackling the environmental and chemical causes of the disease

Our lifestyles and our environment are potential contributors to disease. Diet, lack of exercise and exposure to environmental pollutants, including endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals (EDCs) present in many everyday products, may increase the risk of hormone related diseases such as breast cancer.

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Endocrine Disruptors

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Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals and Increased Breast Cancer Risk

Breast Cancer UK works to reduce breast cancer rates by tackling the environmental and chemical causes of the disease

Our lifestyles and our environment are potential contributors to disease. Diet, lack of exercise and exposure to environmental pollutants, including endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals (EDCs) present in many everyday products, may increase the risk of hormone related diseases such as breast cancer.

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

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Breast Cancer Prevention – How to Reduce Your Risk

Breast Cancer UK works to reduce breast cancer rates by tackling the environmental and chemical causes of the disease

Our lifestyles and our environment are potential contributors to disease. Diet, lack of exercise and exposure to environmental pollutants, including endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals (EDCs) present in many everyday products, may increase the risk of hormone related diseases such as breast cancer.

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

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How Many People Diagnosed with Breast Cancer in The UK

Breast Cancer UK works to reduce breast cancer rates by tackling the environmental and chemical causes of the disease

Our lifestyles and our environment are potential contributors to disease. Diet, lack of exercise and exposure to environmental pollutants, including endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals (EDCs) present in many everyday products, may increase the risk of hormone related diseases such as breast cancer.

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

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Breast Cancer is the Most Common Cancer in The UK

Breast Cancer UK works to reduce breast cancer rates by tackling the environmental and chemical causes of the disease

Our lifestyles and our environment are potential contributors to disease. Diet, lack of exercise and exposure to environmental pollutants, including endocrine (hormone) disrupting chemicals (EDCs) present in many everyday products, may increase the risk of hormone related diseases such as breast cancer.

Sources

Endocrine Disruptors

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The Little Known Truth About Mammograms

Adam Ruins The Hospital – Season 2 | Ep 203, 2017

Mammograms might be able to detect cancer but they can’t tell the difference between different types. Turns out, mammograms can harm and save much fewer lives than you think.

BPF, BPS and other bisphenol analogues found more estrogenic than BPA

“BPA-free” may mean very little for consumers trying to protect their health from endocrine disrupting chemicals

Six popular BPA alternatives all mimic estrogen in breast cancer cells; three of them more so than BPA itself, according to new research.

2017 Study Abstract

Background
Plasticizers with estrogenic activity, such as bisphenol A (BPA), have been reported to have potential adverse health effects in humans. Due to mounting evidence of these health effects and public pressure, BPA is being phased out by the plastics manufacturing industry and replaced by other bisphenol variants in “BPA-free” products.

Objectives
We have compared estrogenic activity of BPA to 6 bisphenol analogues (bisphenol S, BPS; bisphenol F, BPF; bisphenol AP, BPAP; bisphenol AF, BPAF; bisphenol Z, BPZ; bisphenol B, BPB) in three human breast cancer cell lines.

Methods
Estrogenicity was assessed by cell growth in an estrogen receptor (ER)-mediated cell proliferation assay, and by the induction of estrogen response element (ERE)-mediated transcription in a luciferase assay. Gene expression profiles were determined in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells by microarray analysis and confirmed by Illumina-based RNA sequencing.

Results
All bisphenols showed estrogenic activity in promoting cell growth and inducing ERE-mediated transcription. BPAF was the most potent bisphenol, followed by BPB > BPZ ~ BPA > BPF ~ BPAP > BPS. The addition of ICI 182,780 antagonized the activation of ERs by bisphenols. Data mining of ToxCast high-throughput screening assays confirms our results but also shows divergence in the sensitivities of the assays. The comparison of transcriptome profile alterations resulting from BPA alternatives with an ERα gene expression biomarker further indicates that all BPA alternatives act as ERα agonists in MCF-7 cells. These results were confirmed by RNA sequencing.

Conclusion
In conclusion, BPA alternatives are not necessarily less estrogenic in a human breast cancer cell model. Three bisphenols (BPAF, BPB, and BPZ) were more estrogenic than BPA. The relevance of human exposure to BPA alternatives in hormone-dependent breast cancer risk should be investigated.

Sources and More Information
  • Transcriptome profiling reveals bisphenol A alternatives activate estrogen receptor alpha in human breast cancer cells, bioRxiv, Mar. 2, 2017.
  • BPA-free? Substitutions mimic hormones in breast cancer cells, environmentalhealthnews, March 16, 2017.
  • BPA Free by Mark Morgan.

How to reduce your risk of becoming a breast cancer patient by one third

Dr Peter Gøtzsche’s views on breast cancer screening

Video published on 1 April 2015 by John McDougall.

Peter C. Gøtzsche, MD is a Danish medical researcher, and leader of the Nordic Cochrane Center at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has written numerous reviews within the Cochrane collaboration.

Dr.Gøtzsche has been critical of screening for breast cancer using mammography, arguing that it cannot be justified; His critique stems from a meta-analysis he did on mammography screening studies and published as Is screening for breast cancer with mammography justifiable? in The Lancet in 2000. In it he discarded 6 out of 8 studies arguing their randomization was inadequate.

In 2006 a paper by Gøtzsche on mammography screening was electronically published in the European Journal of Cancer ahead of print. The journal later removed the paper completely from the journal website without any formal retraction. The paper was later published in Danish Medical Bulletin with a short note from the editor, and Gøtzsche and his coauthors commented on the unilateral retraction that the authors were not involved in.

In 2012 his book Mammography Screening: Truth, Lies and Controversy was published. In 2013 his book Deadly Medicines and Organized Crime: How Big Pharma has Corrupted Healthcare was published.

Cancer Risk in Women Exposed to Diethylstilbestrol in Utero

Significant increase of breast cancer in DES Daughters

2015 Study Abstract

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the overall cancer risk, primarily breast cancer, for women exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES) in utero in France.

METHODS
A cohort of 3 436 prenatally DES exposed women and a comparable cohort of 3256 unexposed women were recruited retrospectively from voluntary responses to questionnaires, and cases were ascertained by medical history at the time of recruitment.

Cancer Risk in Women Exposed to Diethylstilbestrol in Utero, US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, Therapie, NCBI PubMed PMID: 26071143, 2015 Sep-Oct.

Image credit Amy the Nurse.

RESULTS
One hundred ninety-five cancers were observed in exposed women (136 breast cancers, and 59 in other sites) and 141 cancers in unexposed women (90 breast cancers, and 51 others). A significant increase of breast cancers was found in exposed women, with a multivariate incidence rate ratio of 2.10 (95% CI 1.60-2.76) when compared with unexposed women. When exposed women were compared with the general population in France, the standardized incidence ratio was 2.33 (95% CI 1.93-2.72).

CONCLUSION
Our results suggest a significant increase of breast cancer in prenatally DES exposed women when compared with unexposed women and with the general population. For other cancers, except clear cell carcinoma of the cervix or vagina, there was a global non-significant increase.

More DES DiEthylStilbestrol Resources

Let’s Reduce the Number of People that get Breast Cancer by Decreasing the Environmental Risk

Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) and Breast Cancer

It is possible to reduce the number of people that get Breast Cancer in the first place.

The following video explains Breast Cancer UK position and the science behind it.

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