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Roberta B. Ness, MD, MPH; Jane A. Cauley, DrPH

JAMA. 2004;291:880-881.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Breast cancer is the most frequent cancer diagnosed among women in the United States. Established risk factors include age, family history, reduced parity, earlier age at menarche, alcohol use, postmenopausal adiposity, and hormone therapy. In this issue of THE JOURNAL, Velicer and colleagues¹ report another potential risk factor: the use of prescribed antibiotics. Among 2266 women with breast cancer, as compared with 7953 controls, the use of antibiotics was more common; the risk of breast cancer was greater with longer duration of antibiotic use and was consistent across antibiotic classes. This observation is potentially worrisome in that antibiotic exposure is common and sometimes nonessential. Thus, if real, the risk of breast cancer attributable to the use of antibiotics could be large and partially preventable.

A number of strengths lend validity to the study's findings. Cases and controls were numerous and chosen . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliations: Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa.

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