Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The human breast and the ancestral reproductive cycle

A preliminary inquiry into breast cancer etiology

  • Published:
Human Nature Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This paper, using modern Darwinian theory, proposes an explanation for the increasingly high incidence of breast cancer found among pre-and post-menopausal women living today in westernized countries. A number of factors have been said to be responsible: genetic inheritance (BRCA-1), diet (specifically the increased consumption of dietary fat), exposure to carcinogenic agents, lifetime menstrual activity, and reproductive factors. The primary aim of this paper is to demonstrate the value of a perspective based on Darwinian theory. In this paper, Darwinian theory is used to explore the possibility that the increased incidence of breast cancer is due primarily to the failure to complete in a timely manner the reproductive developmental cycle, beginning at menarche and continuing through a series of pregnancies and lactation. On the basis of comparative data, we assume that most women in ancestral populations began having children before age 20 or so and tended to remain either pregnant or nursing for most of their adult lives. If a woman did not have a child by age 25 or so, she probably would never have one. Therefore, selection would probably not have acted against deleterious traits, such as cancer, that appeared after that age, just as it does not act against such traits in old age.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexander, R. 1976 The Evolution of Social Behavior.Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 5:325–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, D., and M. Badzioch 1985 Risk of Familial Breast Cancer.Cancer 55:383–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrieu, N., F. Clavel, M. Auquier, B. Gairard, L. Piana, A. Bremond, J. Lansac, R. Flamant, and R. Renarud 1993 Variations in the Risk of Breast Cancer Associated with a Family History of Breast Cancer According to Age at Onset and Reproductive Factors.Journal of Clinical Epidemiology 46 (9):973–980.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baanders, A., and F. de Waard 1992 Breast Cancer in Europe: The Importance of Factors Operating at an Early Age.European Journal of Cancer Prevention 1:285–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bishop, D. 1993 The Involvement of Genetic Factors in Susceptibility to Breast Cancer.European Journal of Cancer Prevention 2 (supplement 3):125–130.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bowcock, A., L. Anderson, D. Black, et al. 1993 Polymorphisms in THRA1 and D17S181 Flank a <4 cM Interval for the Breast- Ovarian Cancer Gene on Chromosome 17q.American Journal of Human Genetics 52:718–722.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brinton, L., R. Hoover, and J. Fraumeni 1983 Reproductive Factors in the Aetiology of Breast Cancer.British Journal of Cancer 47:757–762.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, T., S. Graham, T. Rzepka, et al. 1985 Lactation and Breast Cancer: Evidence for a Negative Association in Premenopausal Women.American Journal of Epidemiology 121:664–674.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, K., and H. Khor 1971 Effects of Level and Type of Dietary Fat on Incidence of Mammary Tumours Induced in Female Sprague-Dawley Rats by 1,12 Dimethylbenzanthracene.Lipids 6:415–420.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, K., E. Gammel, and E. Plunkett 1968 Dietary Fat and Mammary Cancer.Canadian Medical Association Journal 98:590–594.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cates, W. 1982 Legal Abortion: The Public Record.Science 215:1586–1590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colditz, G. 1993 Epidemiology of Breast Cancer: Findings from the Nurses’ Health Study.Cancer Supplement 71(4):1480–1489.

    Google Scholar 

  • Daling, J., K. Malone, L. Voigt, E. White, and N. Weiss 1994 Risk of Breast Cancer among Young Women: Relationship to Induced Abortion.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 86(21):1584–1592.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, M., and M. Wilson 1978Sex, Evolution, and Behavior: Adaptations for Reproduction. North Scituate, Massachusetts: Duxbury Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Stavola, B., D. Wang, D. Allen, J. Giaconi, I. Fentiman, M. Reed, R. Bulbrook, and J. Hayward 1993 The Association of Height, Weight, Menstrual and Reproductive Events with Breast Cancer: Results from Two Prospective Studies on the Island of Guernsey (United Kingdom).Cancer Causes and Control 4:331–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doll, R. 1975 The Epidemiology of Cancers of the Breast and Reproductive System.Scottish Medical Journal 20:305–314.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eaton, S. B., M. Shostak, and M. Konner 1988The Paleolithic Prescription. New York: Harper and Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eaton, S. B., M. Pike, R. Short, N. Lee, J. Trussell, R. Hatcher, J. Wood, C. Worthman, N. Blurton Jones, M. Konner, K. Hill, R. Bailey, and A. Hurtado 1994 Women’s Reproductive Cancers in Evolutionary Context.Quarterly Review of Biology 69(3):354–367.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadijimichael, O., C. Boyle, and J. Meigs 1986 Abortion before First Live Birth and Risk of Breast Cancer.British Journal of Cancer 53:281–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart, C. W. M. 1960The Tiwi of North Australia. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howe, G., T. Hirohata, T. Hislop, J. Iscovich, et al. 1990 Dietary Factors and Risk of Breast Cancer: Combined Analysis of 12 Case- Control Studies.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 82:561–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Howe, H., R. Senie, H. Bzduch, and P. Herzfeld 1989 Early Abortion and Breast Cancer Risk among Women under Age 40.International Journal of Epidemiology 18(2):300–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalache, A., A. Maguire, and S. Thompson 1993 Age at Last Full-term Pregnancy and Risk of Breast Cancer.Lancet 341:33–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kampert, J., A. Whittemore, and R. Paffenbarger 1988 Combined Effect of Childbearing, Menstrual Events, and Body Size on Age- Specific Breast Cancer Risk.American Journal of Epidemiology 128(5):962–979.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kato, I., S. Miura, F. Kasumi, T. Iwase, H. Tashiro, Y. Fujita, et al. 1992 A Case-control Study of Breast Cancer among Japanese Women: With Special Reference to Family History and Reproductive and Dietary Factors.Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 24:51–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelsell, D., D. Black, D. Bishop, and N. Spurr 1993 Genetic Analysis of the BRCA1 Region in a Large Breast/Ovarian Family: Refinement of the Minimal Region Containing BRCA1.Human Molecular Genetics 2:1823–1828.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelsey, J. 1979 A Review of the Epidemiology of Human Breast Cancer.Epidemiological Review 1:74–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelsey, J., and E. John 1994 Lactation and the Risk of Breast Cancer.New England Journal of Medicine 330(2):136–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelsey, J., D. Fischer, T. Holford, V. LiVolsi, E. Mostow, S. Goldenberg, and C. White 1981 Exogenous Estrogens and Other Factors in the Epidemiology of Breast Cancer.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 67(2):327–333.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krieger, N. 1990 Social Class and the Black/White Crossover in the Age-Specific Incidence of Breast Cancer: A Study Linking Census Derived Data to Population-Based Registry Records.American Journal of Epidemiology 18:498–510.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lambe, M., C. Hsieh, D. Trichopoulos, A. Ekbom, M. Pavia, and H. O. Adami 1994 Transient Increase in the Risk of Breast Cancer after Giving Birth.New England Journal of Medicine 331(1):5–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Learmonth, A. 1988Disease Ecology. New York: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindefors-Harris, B., G. Edlund, O. Meirik, L. Rutqvist, and K. Wiklund 1989 Early Abortion and Breast-cancer Risk among Women under 40.British Medical Journal 299:1430–1432.

    Google Scholar 

  • London, S., G. Colditz, M. Stampfer, W. Willett, B. Rosner, K. Corsano, and F. Speizer 1990 Lactation and Risk of Breast Cancer in a Cohort of US Women.American Journal of Epidemiology 132(1):17–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubin, J., P. Burns, W. Blot, et al. 1982 Risk Factors for Breast Cancer in Women in Northern Alberta, Canada, as Related to Age at Diagnosis.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 68:211–217.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacMahon, B., and M. Feinleib 1960 Breast Cancer in Relation to Nursing and Menopausal History.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 24:733–753.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacMahon, B., P. Cole, and J. Brown 1973 Etiology of Human Breast Cancer. A Review.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 50:21–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacMahon, B., P. Cole, T. Lin, et al. 1970 Age at First Birth and Breast Cancer Risk.Bulletin of the World Health Organization 43:1013–1024.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacMahon, B., M. Purde, D. Cramer, and E. Hint 1982 Association of Breast Cancer Risk with Age at First and Subsequent Births: A Study of the Population of the Estonian Republic.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 69:1035–1038.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malinowski, B. 1962Sex, Culture and Myth. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mansfield, C. 1993 A Review of the Etiology of Breast Cancer.Journal of the National Medical Association 85(3):217–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, E. 1993 Epidemiology. Search for a Killer: Focus Shifts from Fats to Hormones.Science 259(29):618–621.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayberry, R., and C. Stoddard-Wright 1992 Breast Cancer Risk Factors among Black Women and White Women: Similarities and Differences.American Journal of Epidemiology 136(12):1445–1456.

    Google Scholar 

  • McTiernan, A., and D. Thomas 1986 Evidence of a Protective Effect of Lactation on Risk of Breast Cancer in Young Women.American Journal of Epidemiology 124:353–358.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medawar, P. 1957On the Uniqueness of the Individual. London: Methuen.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mori, M., I. Harabuchi, H. Miyake, J. Casagrande, B. Henderson, and R. Ross 1988 Reproductive, Genetic, and Dietary Risk Factors for Ovarian Cancer.American Journal of Epidemiology 128(4):771–777.

    Google Scholar 

  • Najem, G., B. Rush, F. Miller, P. Dimarco, S. Roellke, N. Gobstein, and J. Levitt 1982 Pre- and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer.Preventive Medicine 11:281–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nesse, R., and G. Williams 1994Why We Get Sick. New York: Random House

    Google Scholar 

  • Newcomb, P., B. Storer, M. Longnecker, R. Mittendorf, R. Greenberg, R. Clapp, K. Burke, W. Willett, and B. MacMahon 1994 Lactation and a Reduced Risk of Premenopausal Breast Cancer.New England Journal of Medicine 330(2):81–87.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olsson, H., M. Borg, M. Ferno, et al. 1991 Her-2/neu INT2 Proto-oncogene Amplification in Malignant Breast Tumors in Relation to Reproductive Factors and Exposure to Exogenous Hormones.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 83:1483–1487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Parazzini, F., C. LaVechia, and E. Negri 1991 Spontaneous and Induced Abortions and Risk of Breast Cancer.International Journal of Cancer 48:816–820.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pike, M., B. Henderson, J. Casagrande, I. Rosario, G. Gray 1981 Oral Contraceptive Use and Early Abortion as Risk Factors for Breast Cancer in Young Women.British Journal of Cancer 53:72–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pike, M., M. Krailo, B. Henderson, J. Casagrande, and D. Hoel 1983 ‘Hormonal Risk Factors,’ ‘Breast Tissue Age’ and the Age-incidence of Breast Cancer.Nature 202:768–771.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prescott, D., and A. Flexer 1982Cancer: The Misguided Cell, second edition. Sunderland, Massachusetts: Sinauer Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rautalahti, M., D. Albanes, J. Virtamo, J. Palmgren, J. Haukka, and O. Heinonen 1993 Lifetime Menstrual Activity: Indicator of Breast Cancer Risk.European Journal of Epidemiology 9(1):17–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Remennick, L. 1989 Reproductive Patterns and Cancer Incidence in Women: A Population-based Correlation Study in the USSR.International Journal of Epidemiology 18(3):498–509.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rosenberg, S., and J. Berry 1992Cancer: The Transformed Cell: Unlocking the Mysteries of Cancer. New York: Putnam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo, I., and J. Russo 1988 Hormone Prevention of Mammary Carcinogenesis: A New Approach in Anticancer Research.Anticancer Research 8:1247–1264.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1991 Progestagens and Mammary Gland Development: Differentiation versus Carcinogenesis.Acta Endocrinologica 125:7–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1993 Physiological Bases of Breast Cancer Prevention.European Journal of Cancer Prevention 2 (Supplement 3):101–111.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo, I., M. Koszalka, P. Gimotty, and J. Russo 1990 Protective Effect of Chorionic Gonadotropin on DMBA-induced Mammary Carcinogenesis.British Journal of Cancer 62:243–247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo, J., and I. Russo 1980 Susceptibility of the Mammary Gland to Carcinogenesis, II. Pregnancy Interruption as a Risk Factor for Tumor Incidence.American Journal of Pathology 100:497–552.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1987 Development of the Human Mammary Gland. InThe Mammary Gland: Development, Regulation, and Function, M. Neville and C. Daniel, eds. Pp. 67–91. New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1992 The Pathology of Breast Cancer: Staging and Prognostic Indicators.Journal of the American Women’s Medical Association 47:181–186.

    Google Scholar 

  • 1993 A Comprehensive View of Breast Cancer Research. Unpublished ms. in the authors’ possession, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Fox Chase, Pennsylvania.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo, J., R. Rivera, and I. Russo 1992 Influence of Age and Parity on the Development of the Human Breast.Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 23:211–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Russo, J., K. Lee, L. Tay, and I. Russo 1982 Differentiation of the Mammary Gland and Susceptibility to Carcinogenesis.Breast Cancer Research and Treatment 2:5–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salber, E., D. Trichopoulos, and B. MacMahon 1969 Lactation and Reproductive Histories of Breast Cancer Patients in Boston, 1965– 66.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 43:1013–1024.

    Google Scholar 

  • Short, R. V. 1976 The Evolution of Human Reproduction.Proceeding of the Royal Society of London B 195:3–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Short, R. V., and J. O. Drife 1977 The Aetiology of Mammary Cancer in Man and Animals.Symposium of the Zoological Society of London 41:211–230.

    Google Scholar 

  • Soule, H., and C. McGrath 1980 Estrogen Responsive Proliferation of Clonal Human Breast Carcinoma Cells in Athymic Mice.Cancer Letters 10:177–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spiro, H. 1993 Breast Cancer: Hormonal Factors and Risk of Breast Cancer.Lancet 341:25–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stavrakey, K., and S. Emmons 1974 Breast Cancer in Pre-menopausal and Post-menopausal Women.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 53:647–654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Strah, K., and S. Love 1992 The In Situ Carcinomas of the Breast.Journal of the American Women’s Medical Association 47(5):165–168.

    Google Scholar 

  • Symons, D. 1979The Evolution of Human Sexuality. Oxford: University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swanson, G. M. 1992 Breast Cancer in the 1990s.Journal of the American Women’s Medical Association 47(5):140–148.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tabar, L., C. Fagerberg, and A. Gad 1985 Reduction in Mortality from Breast Cancer after Mass Screening with Mammography.Lancet 1:829–832.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Talamini, R., C. La Vecchia, S. Francheschi, F. Colombo, A. Decarli, E. Grattoni, E. Grigoletto, and G. Tognoni 1985 Reproductive and Hormonal Factors and Breast Cancer in a Northern Italian Population.International Journal of Epidemiology 14(1):70–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tannenbaum, A. 1942 The Genesis and Growth of Tumors, III. Effects of a High Fat Diet.Cancer Research 2:468–475.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thein-Hlaing and Thein-Maung-Myint 1978 Risk Factors of Breast Cancer in Burma.International Journal of Cancer 21:432–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang, Q., R. Ross, M. Yu, J. Ning, B. Henderson, and H. Kimm 1992 A Case-control Study of Breast Cancer in Tiajun, China.Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention 1:435–439.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, E., J. Daling, T. Norsted, and J. Chu 1987 Rising Incidence of Breast Cancer among Young Women in Washington State.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 29(2):239–243.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, E., K. Malone, N. Weiss, and J. Daling 1994 Breast Cancer among Young U.S. Women in Relation to Oral Contraceptive Use.Journal of the National Cancer Institute 86(7):505–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Willett, W., M. Stampfer, G. Colditz, et al. 1987 Dietary Fat and the Risk of Breast Cancer.New England Journal of Medicine 316:22–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G., and R. Nesse 1991 The Dawn of Darwinian Medicine.Quarterly Review of Biology 66(1):1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuasa, S., and B. MacMahon 1970 Lactation and Reproductive Histories of Breast Cancer Patients in Tokyo, Japan.Bulletin of the World Health Organization 42:195–204.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hispanic Research Center, Arizona State University, 85287-2702, Tempe, AZ

    Kathryn Coe

  2. Department of Anthropology, Arizona State University, USA

    Lyle B. Steadman

Authors
  1. Kathryn Coe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Lyle B. Steadman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

This article is based upon a paper presented at the Sixth Annual Scientific Meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, June 18th, 1994, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Kathryn Coe is a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology at Arizona State University and project director of an NCI grant focusing on cervical and breast cancer in Hispanic women. Field research for her doctoral dissertation focused on the health, fertility, and culture of the Chachi Indians of the coastal rain forest of Ecuador.

Lyle Steadman is an assistant professor of anthropology at Arizona State University. He has conducted research for more than two years among the isolated Hewa of Papua New Guinea. His research interests include evolutionary theory and culture, particularly religion and kinship.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Coe, K., Steadman, L.B. The human breast and the ancestral reproductive cycle. Human Nature 6, 197–220 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734139

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02734139

Key words

Search

Navigation