Gupta: Smoking-breast cancer link would be a first
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A California scientific panel on Monday will review a draft report showing a potential link between secondhand smoke and an increased risk of breast cancer.
The lengthy report was prepared for California's Air Resources Board, part of the state's Environmental Protection Agency.
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper on Wednesday discussed the report with CNN's senior medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
COOPER: What specifically does the study tell us?
GUPTA: Well, specifically [it is] trying to draw a cause-and-effect relationship between secondhand smoke and breast cancer. That's never been done before.
No one disputes the fact that secondhand smoke is bad for you in so many ways. But actually finding that link is the first time they've been able to do that. It's saying it could increase your risk up to 90 percent. So, you can imagine a lot of people sort of concerned about that.
COOPER: What is it specifically about secondhand smoke and breast cancer? Why that type of cancer?
GUPTA: It's interesting because lung cancer is the more obvious thing, right? ...
People smoke or they inhale secondhand smoke [and they] get that lung cancer. That's been proven, you know -- 3,000 deaths a year due to that every year.
With breast cancer, they actually find -- you know, there are 4,000 chemicals in smoke. It's called sidestream smoke; it comes off of the end of your cigarette, and mainstream if it comes out of your mouth. About 4,000 chemicals, and they've found those chemicals now in the breast tissue of animals. And they're starting to make the leap here, saying if it's getting into the breast tissue of animals, it's probably getting into the breast tissue of humans, as well. And that's the problem.
COOPER: And active smoking versus secondhand smoking -- in this case, secondhand smoke is actually worse for you?
GUPTA: I find this so interesting.
COOPER: Yes, I don't get that.
GUPTA: It's kind of bizarre. And again, I don't want anybody to take out of this that active smoking is good for you, because it's not. But what seems to happen here is that women who actively smoke are actually suppressing their estrogen. And estrogen is a necessary fuel, a necessary hormone ...
COOPER: Something about what they're sucking in, it's suppressing estrogen.
GUPTA: The actual active smoking is actually suppressing the estrogen. When you breathe in the secondhand smoke, you're just getting the bad stuff. The estrogen is still there. And that can cause the rise of the breast cancer. ...
For lung cancer, active smoking is still worse for asthmatics and children. ...
So, it's an important message to keep in mind. Obviously, the tobacco industry thinks that this isn't true. They say there's a lot of studies out there that don't show a link.
The American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute -- we talked to all of them today. They say, "Listen, we've got to examine this data." It's going to be a big study if it comes out to be true.
