Plastics Chemical Might Promote Breast Cancer
(HealthDay News, 8/25/06)

Theodore Widlanski of Indiana University, and team, exposed breast tumor cells in the laboratory to bisphenol-A (BPA), a compound found in hard, clear plastics used in such common items as CD cases and baby bottles. BPA is a pseudo-estrogen, meaning that it can trigger estrogen-like effects if taken into human cells. Scientists had labeled this substance as harmless because the addition of a sulfate molecule to BPA prevents normal cells from absorbing it. Now Widlanski’s team has demonstrated that an enzyme on the surface of a malignant breast cell can strip off the sulfate, converting bisphenol sulfate back to bisphenol-A, which can penetrate the cell. The scientists theorize that once the BPA enters the cell, it may sustain the cancer the way that estrogen does. The plastics industry has responded that the BPA concentrations in the experiment were extreme and that test tube results do not always translate into the reality of human physiology; but the researchers maintain that this biological  mechanism represents a potential link between BPA and breast cancer proliferation and should be studied further.

(Chemistry & Biology, August 28, 2006)