We know from research that being pregnant while young somehow reduces one’s risk of breast cancer later in life, but why and how?
An article just published in Breast Cancer Research states that a special signal resides within our body that is called the Wnt/Notch signal. Through the work of this research study, the scientists discovered that, for women who have children before age 20 (yes, I really did just type that: age 20!), this signal is permanently altered and prevents breast cancer cells from growing.
Does the altered Wnt/Notch signal work this magic all the time? No, but apparently most of the time.
I personally am not ready, however, to go out and tell young people whom I think are still too immature to even be driving a car to go out and get themselves pregnant as a way to reduce their future risk of breast cancer.
What this research does teach us, though, is that we are getting closer to being able to understand the biology of the breast cell and the various receptors within it that may impact breast-cancer development.