Hip bone mineral density (BMD) may help predict a woman's risk of developing breast cancer after menopause, researchers said in a new study.

The study, published in Cancer, followed 9,941 postmenopausal women averaged 63 years old and found 327 of them developed breast cancer during the 8.4 years of research period.

The women got a checkup including a hip bone mineral density scan using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Higher hip bone mineral density may be a reflection of greater lifetime exposure to estrogen and many (but not all) breast cancers are estrogen-sensitive, explained Zhao Chen, Ph.D. of the University of Arizona College of Public Health in Tucson, Arizona.

The research method is different from Gail risk model which takes into account a woman's current age, first menstruation age, reproductive history, family history of breast cancer, past biopsies, and race.

The study says women with a high Gail risk score had a 35 percent increased risk for developing breast cancer compared to women with a low Gail risk score, and a 25 percent increase in breast cancer risk with each unit increase in hip BMD.

While hip BMD and the Gail score were independent of each other, women who had the highest scores on both assessments had a markedly higher risk of breast cancer.

If bone mineral density drops too low, that brings different health risks -- osteoporosis and fractures.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency July 30,2008)