Ethnicity, Hormones, and Breast Cancer

Your ethnicity (race) is one of many risk factors for developing breast cancer. A new research paper by Dr. Veronica Wendy Setiawan, shows that the connection is found in levels of estrogen and androgen, hormones that determine your gender, and that can fuel the growth of a breast tumor. Asian women have the highest levels of estrogen, followed by whites, blacks, and hispanics. Dr. Setiawan studied 739 women and considered their age and lifestyle, as well as their ethnicity.

• Racial/Ethnic Differences in Postmenopausal Endogenous Hormones, Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers & Prevention
• Hormones now linked to breast cancer's ethnic gaps
• What are hormones?