One of our readers says that she has quite small breasts. She wonders if it makes a difference in her risk of getting breast cancer.
We asked Håvard Søiland, a professor of surgery at the University of Bergen.
Imagine your chest is a clock. The nipple is in the middle of the clock. 12 is the top of the chest and 6 is straight down. 3 is towards the armpit. 9 is towards the middle of the chest.
Women more often get tumours in the area between 12 and 3.
This pattern ultimately led researchers to a dead end.
“For a period, people began to suspect that deodorants contained substances that penetrated the skin. This was refuted by several large studies. But this dead end actually led researchers to learn more about breast cancer,” Søiland tells sciencenorway.no.
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This quarter circle of the breast has more tissue. And the more breast tissue, the greater the risk of cancer.
Regardless of breast size, women have a greater chance of getting cancerous tumours in this area.
Those with small breasts still have an advantage.
“Women with small breasts find it easier to detect tumours. That means they have a better prognosis,” Søiland says.
