Antibiotics robustly linked to breast cancer risk, mortality: case-control study.(News)

The more antibiotics a woman has taken, the higher her risk of developing breast cancer later and then dying from the disease, results of a large, case-control study suggest.

It's still not clear whether use of antibiotics causes breast cancer, or whether indications for antibiotic use, a weakened immune system, or other factors could explain the association, study investigators emphasized.

"The results of this study support the continued need for prudent long-term use of antibiotics and the need for further studies of the association between antibiotic use and cancer risk," wrote Christine M. Velicer, Ph.D., of the University of Washington, Seattle, and her associates.

While the study does raise concerns about the potential consequences of long-term antibiotic use, …