Link found between cancer and poor sleep patterns

A study, reported in the journal Current Biology, has revealed that in tests on mice, irregular sleeping patterns have clearly been shown to lead to cancer, lending weight to concerns about the impact of shift work on health.

During the study, mice that had an increased risk of developing breast cancer had their body’s internal rhythm delayed by 12 hours each week over the course of a year. Under normal circumstances, the mice had developed tumours after around 50 weeks, but with this disruption to their sleeping patterns, the tumours appeared around eight weeks earlier.

The researchers cautioned that further tests in people needed to be carried out, but they did say that these findings may mean that women who had a hereditary risk of breast cancer should avoid shift work. Previous studies have linked a higher risk of breast cancer in flight attendants and shift workers.

One possible explanation for the increased risk of disease in poor sleep patterns is that the risk is increased by the body’s internal rhythm (body clock) being disrupted.

The report said “This is the first study that unequivocally shows a link between chronic light-dark inversions and breast cancer development.”

One of the researchers, Gijsbetus van der Horst, from the Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, said “If you had a situation where a family is at risk for breast cancer, I would certainly advise those people not to work as a flight attendant or to do shift work.”

The Medical Research Council’s Dr Michael Hastings, said “I consider this study to give the definitive experimental proof, in mouse models, that circadian (body clock) disruption can accelerate the development of breast cancer.

“The general public health message coming out of my area of work is shift work, particularly rotational shift work is a stress and therefore it has consequences.

“There are things people should be looking out for – pay more attention to your body weight, pay more attention to inspecting breasts, and employers should offer more in-work health checks.

“If we’re going to do it, then let’s keep an eye on people and inform them.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Paralegal, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (karenmotley@chadlaw.co.uk ), Medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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