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Women who had their tonsils removed in childhood may be at increased risk of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer, according to new research. Women who had their tonsils removed in childhood may be at increased risk of developing pre-menopausal breast cancer, according to research reported at the 100th annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research underway in Los Angeles.

"The apparent association may be related to the loss of the protective function of the tonsils when they are removed," study leader Theodore M. Brasky said in a telephone interview with Reuters Health ahead of the meeting. Alternatively, tonsillectomy may be a marker for severe or chronic infections in childhood -- infections that cause inflammation, and chronic inflammation may contribute to carcinogenesis.

The population-based, case-control study involved 740 women with breast cancer and 810 healthy controls. "We found a 50 per cent increased risk of pre-menopausal breast cancer in women who had had a tonsillectomy versus pre-menopausal women who had not," the researcher said.

There was no association between tonsillectomy and post-menopausal breast cancer, said Brasky, who is a doctoral student at the University of Buffalo School of Public Health.

Previous epidemiologic findings have linked tonsillectomy to increased risk of Hodgkin's lymphoma, leukemia and cancers of the breast and prostate. "Our study adds to the evidence that tonsillectomy is associated with cancer risk," Brasky said.

The finding supports accumulating evidence that childhood exposures influence the risk of breast cancer in adulthood, Brasky noted. Further research looking at the role of childhood infections in breast cancer risk is warranted, he and his colleagues conclude.