Identifying Opportunities for Cancer Prevention During Pre-Adolescence and Adolescence: Puberty as a Window of Susceptibility

摘要

Early life exposures during times of rapid growth and development are recognized increasingly to impact later life. Epidemiologic studies document an association between exposures at critical windows of susceptibility with outcomes as diverse as childhood and adult obesity, timing of menarche, and risk for hypertension or breast cancer. This paper briefly reviews the theoretical bases for these relationships, utilizing the paradigms of pubertal change and breast cancer and of biobehavioral susceptibility to environmental influences. The long-term sequella of responses to early exposures may impact other adult morbidities and addressing these exposures represent an important challenge for contemporary medicine.