Insufficient Sleep Linked to Aggressive Breast Cancers

Lack of sleep may trigger aggressive form of breast cancers and the likelihood of recurrence, reveals study.

The study, led by Cheryl Thompson, Assistant Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, analysed medical records and survey responses from 412 post-menopausal breast cancer patients with Oncotype DX.

Screening for Breast Cancer with Clinical Breast Examination
Clinical breast examination is a simple and inexpensive method of detecting breast cancer especially in women who do not have access to mammography.

Oncotype DX is a widely utilized test to guide treatment in early stage breast cancer by predicting likelihood of recurrence.

Researchers found that women who reported six hours or less of sleep per night on average before breast cancer diagnosis had increased Oncotype DX tumor recurrence scores.

"This is the first study to suggest that women who routinely sleep fewer hours may develop more aggressive breast cancers compared with women who sleep longer hours," Dr. Thompson said.

About Sleep Disorder
Sleep disorders can either be having difficulty in getting sleep or dozing off at inappropriate time.

"We found a strong correlation between fewer hours of sleep per night and worse recurrence scores, specifically in post-menopausal breast cancer patients.

This suggests that lack of sufficient sleep may cause more aggressive tumors, but more research will need to be done to verify this finding and understand the causes of this association," she said.

Quiz on Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer deaths among women. It is often said that a woman who breast-feeds is at a lower risk of developing cancer compared to another who does not .Are these mere old wives tales or is there some truth in it? This quiz on breast cancer has all the details.

The researchers also revealed that the correlation of sleep duration and recurrence score was strong in post-menopausal women. The data suggested that sleep might affect carcinogenic pathway(s) specifically involved in the development of post-menopausal breast cancer.

This study has been published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Sleeping Disorders
How many times have you stayed awake in the dead of the night counting sheep? If it is fairly often then you could be suffering from a sleep disorder!

Source-ANI