cold exposure & breast cancer

A recent flare up of fibrocystic breast symptoms had me wondering if use of cold packs has any effect on breast cancer (BC) risk. Cold packs are often recommended for mastalgia (breast pain) from fibrocystic breast disease, mastitis, engorgement due to breast feeding cessation, and post breast cancer surgery.

Whole body cold exposure has been found to increase tumor growth and metastasis in mice:

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/269266

T-cell function is diminished at colder temperature leading to reduced anti-tumor immune responses. The article notes implications for standard research practice of housing mice at relatively colder temperatures - another thing to add to the list of problems in current practices. 

(Could cold acclimation be used to promote tolerance in autoimmunity and atopy? Another topic for another day.)

The mice were subjected to whole body cold exposure  - not spot treatment. It is conceivable that reducing acute inflammation through localized cold exposure could have a net protective effect. There are articles in the literature on the use of ice packs / cryotherapy for minimization of side effects from cancer treatments (chemotherapy or radiation therapy), but I was unable to find studies on whether it impacted outcomes in terms of cancer clearance or recurrence.

Cystathione beta synthase (CBS) expression is increased in breast and other cancers; hypothermia reduces CBS expression. It is difficult to know what the effect of intermittent cold exposure would be on CBS levels as there may be an adaptive response resulting in an overall upregulation - or not. 

Pyridoxine (vitamin B6) can increase CBS activity in CBS mutants. However, the potential for B6 to increase CBS activity does not seem to confer increased cancer risk since increased blood levels of B6 are associated with lowered risk of cancer generally and for BC in post-menopausal women. B6 has been suggested as a possible chemoprevention agent for BC, but evidence seems weak at this point; serum B6 may serve as a marker for other dietary factors that confer protection.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30050925/

https://www.mdpi.com/2218-273X/10/5/697/htm

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21829469/ 

https://academic.oup.com/jnci/article/109/3/djw230/2572054

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23907430/ - this meta-analysis also found methionine intake to be associated with reduced risk of BC - weird

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31280187/

 

~

Many health web sites state that fibrocystic breast disease, the most common type of benign breast disease, is not associated with increased cancer risk, however:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33409776/ [paywalled]

"Benign breast disease and breast density were independently associated with breast cancer. Women with benign breast disease had an elevated risk for up to 15 years independently of their mammographic density category."




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