Smoking increases the risk of breast cancer in older women by almost a fifth, a study has found.
The discovery adds to a growing weight of evidence linking exposure to tobacco smoke with the disease.
American scientists who tracked the progress of around 186,000 women aged 50 to 71 found that those who smoked were 19% more likely to develop breast cancer than never-smokers.
Women who once smoked but then kicked the habit were still 7% more at risk.
The results held true even after accounting for alcohol consumption, which is a major breast cancer risk factor that is more common among smokers.
In the last few years new findings have led to a U-turn in expert opinion.
In 2009, the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded there was “limited evidence” that smoking tobacco can trigger breast cancer.
Last year, researchers from the American Cancer Society reported results showing a 24% higher rate of breast cancer among women who smoked.
The risk was much greater among those who started smoking young, either before they started menstruating or before having their first child.
The new study, published in the British Journal of Cancer, covered a period of around 10 years.
During this time, 7,500 of the women were diagnosed with breast cancer.
Source: John von Radowitz, Irish Examiner, 20/03/14
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