Word: breasted
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...development of cancer have been particularly intrigued by the estrogen connection. Biologists have long known that estrogen is produced not only in the ovaries but also in fat cells. Obese women have higher levels of estrogen than thin ones -- a probable factor in their greater risk of breast cancer after menopause...
...Valhalla, N.Y., has found that when women switch to a very low-fat diet (20% of total calories), their estrogen levels quickly drop by 20%. Advocates of the dietary-fat theory regard this observation as a crucial bit of supporting evidence. Given estrogen's established role in promoting breast cancer, the fact that fatty foods directly affect estrogen levels means that, as Maureen Henderson puts it, "it's biologically rational that fat can influence cancer...
Until the government decides to fund a long-term dietary study and until the work is completed, the value of an ultralow-fat diet in preventing breast cancer will remain open to question. For women 40 or older, however, there is one bit of medical counsel that has almost unanimous approval: Get a mammogram. Now. And do it regularly...
Consider these facts. By the time a breast tumor is large enough to be felt as a lump, it is generally more than 1 cm (0.4 in.) in diameter and contains several billion cancer cells, some of which may have broken loose, circulated through the bloodstream and begun to infiltrate other organs. A mammogram can detect pinpoint tumors that are less than 0.5 cm (0.2 in.) across, often well before the process of metastasis has started. This is not to say that a manual exam by a doctor or the woman herself is a waste of time. Such exams...
...that is not incentive enough, early detection through mammography can sometimes bring another bonus: surgery that spares the breast. A small, early tumor can often be removed with a lumpectomy procedure rather than a mastectomy...