Bones May Help Predict Breast Cancer Risk

Bone density may help to predict breast cancer risk, a study suggests. The research looked at nearly 10,000 women who were past menopause. Each woman was given a bone mineral density test and a Gail score. This score predicts breast cancer risk based on family history, race and medical history. Researchers tracked the women for eight years. In that time, women with normal bone density had four times the breast cancer rate of women with osteoporosis (low bone density). Those with high Gail scores and high bone density were most likely to develop breast cancer. MedPage Today wrote about the study July 28. It was published in the journal Cancer.