Among the sample of nearly 1.4 million mothers from 2010 to 2012 in the database of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, around 250,000 mothers gave birth at age 35 or older while 1.14 million mothers were aged below 35. (Image: Kobiz Media)
SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) – A recent study from the Korea University Guro Hospital revealed delayed childbearing and cesarean section delivery increases the risk of breast cancer by 280 percent.
The researchers looked at the correlation between the incidence of breast cancer and late childbirth and c-section delivery, and found that mothers who gave birth past the age of 35 faced a 2.8 times higher risk of breast cancer.
Among the sample of nearly 1.4 million mothers from 2010 to 2012 in the database of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, around 250,000 mothers gave birth at age 35 or older while 1.14 million mothers were aged below 35.
Of 317 women who had breast cancer within a year of giving birth, 102 were 35 or older were while 215 were younger than 35.
The researchers also compared breast cancer rates between mothers who had a c-section and those who opted for natural childbirth during the same period, and found mothers who had their baby by c-section had a 20 percent higher risk of breast cancer.
Similar results were found among the 457,924 women who were observed over the next three years after giving birth in 2010.
Though estrogen, age, childbirth, alcohol consumption, and heredity are thought to bear a link, causes of breast cancer have yet to be clearly identified.
“We haven’t precisely pinpointed the mechanism yet, but we discovered through this study that the age of a mother and methods of childbirth play a role in breast cancer,” said researcher Kang Eun-ju.
The study was published in a recent edition of the academic journal PLOS ONE.
M.H.Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
