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TUCSON, Ariz. Bone scans are commonly used to check for osteoporosis, but now researchers say they could be one of the most powerful predictors of breast cancer. Also, why having strong bones may put older women at a greater risk.

At 64, two-time breast cancer survivor Ilya Sloan doesn't ask, "Why me?" but she's frequently wondered, "How?"

"We precisely ask these questions of ourselves," she told Ivanhoe. "What did we do? Did we have a role in this?"

University of Arizona researchers say results of a routine bone density test could provide an meaningful clue in predicting breast cancer risk in older, post menopausal women.

"What we're showing in the study is that bone density may be an indicator or a marker of something else which may link to breast cancer risk," Zhao Chen, Ph.D., M.P.H., an epidemiologist at the University of Arizona in Tucson, explained to Ivanhoe.

An eight-year study of 10,000 post menopausal women looked at factors like age, race and history to estimate lifetime breast-cancer risk, as well as their hip-bone mineral density T-score. They found older women with high bone density are twice as likely to develop breast cancer.

"High bone density is a marker of increased risk for breast cancer," Dr. Chen said. "We can use that piece of info to predict your breast cancer risk in the future."

For Sloan, every new breast cancer study holds the promise for before intervention, prevention, and the hope that future generations won't have to go through what she did.

"That's the hope for my daughter and my granddaughter -- that we will be able to prevent and if it occurs, cure this disease," Sloan said.

October is breast cancer awareness month. Doctors urge women to ask about bone scans when they go to have their yearly mammograms.  

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

University of Arizona, School of Public Health
http://www.publichealth.arizona.edu

The Women's Health Initiative
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/whi

To read Ivanhoe's full-length interview with Dr. Chen, click here.

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