According to new research, a genetic link has been made between breast size and breast cancer risks.
Medical News Today reports that genetics company 23andMe has identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) - or genetic variations - significantly associated with breast size.
Researchers involved in the study published by BMC Medical Genetics examined the genetic factors underlying breast size by using data collected from 16,175 women of European ancestry.
"Of the seven significant associations we find with breast size, two are shared with breast cancer. In both cases, the same allele is linked to both increased breast size and increased breast cancer risk," the study says.
"A third breast size association is near a SNP associated with breast cancer risk and breast density, and the others are near genes with links to breast cancer and mammary development."
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According to the paper's conclusion, these results provide insight into the genetic factors underlying normal breast development and show that some of these factors are shared with breast cancer.
However, while these results do not directly support any possible epidemiological relationships between breast size and cancer, say researchers, the work may contribute to a better understanding of the subtle interactions between breast morphology and breast cancer risk.