They are called DES daughters, and they are the women who mothers took the anti-miscarriage hormone drug DES during pregnancy. It is estimated that millions of pregnant women were given this drug between the 1940s and 1960s, and it's now been determined that the daughters born to these women have not only an increased risk of a rare vaginal cancer but also nearly double the chance of developing breast cancer.

This sad finding has been addressed before but now more than ever, DES daughters are urged to stick to a strict breast cancer screening schedule.

A news brief published in the February 2007 issue of Good Housekeeping boldly reminds all women to comply with government guidelines that call for mammograms for all women every one to two years starting at age 40 and every year after the age of 50. But it's a different story for women exposed in utero to DES.

"If you were exposed to DES, be sure to let your doctor know and have a mammogram ever year, even in your 40s," says Julie Palmer, lead researcher of the DES study.

Caroline Cheshire is the founder and online shop owner of Healing Baskets -- a place to find inspiring gifts for cancer patients and cancer caregivers. You can find cancer gifts for women, cancer gifts for men and flowers that don't compromise the immune system for cancer patients experiencing fragile immune systems as a result of cancer treatment. There are gifts for cancer caregivers including inspiration and how-to books, jewelry, music and one of my favorites, the Miracle Worker Mug.

Cheshire created her online business because of her own experiences facing life challenges. At one time, alone in a new town, with two daughters and six- week old twins, she was told she had thyroid cancer.

During the emotionally painful loss of miscarriage, Cheshire shares that while family and friends sent flowers, she sensed they were uncomfortable talking about her loss with her. Her intent with Healing Baskets is to provide a way for those who wish to reach out but might not know how to best do that, with a thoughtful gift of inspiration and encouragement. To view the gifts, visit Healing Baskets.

Daughters born to mothers who were prescribed the anti-miscarriage drug diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen, during pregnancy are at increased risk of developing breast cancer, according to research done by a nationwide team of researchers. Between the 1940s through to the 1960s millions of pregnant women were given this drug.

"This is really unwelcome news because so many women worldwide were prenatally exposed to DES, and these women are just now approaching the age at which breast cancer becomes more common," said the study's lead author, Julie Palmer, Sc.D., professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health.

For a little history on DES, back in the late 1930s, physicians believed that low levels of estrogen in pregnant women led to spontaneous abortions or premature deliveries. But in the early 1950s, a clinical trial showed no drug benefit in preventing miscarriage. However, use continued in the US until 1971 when researchers determined that DES greatly increased the risk of developing rare cancers of the vagina and cervix in DES daughters.

I assume most DES daughters at increased cancer risk are already aware. However, what makes this news, is that researchers believe that if excess estrogen in utero might increase breast cancer risk later in life, the concern becomes one where other environmental factors that increase fetal exposure to estrogenic compounds need to be given serious consideration.

My friend called me last night as she was having a miscarriage. She had been to the doctor, heard no heartbeat, and learned via ultrasound that her baby had stopped thriving weeks ago. Her doctors told her what to expect -- bleeding and cramping and contractions and possibly a D & C -- and she was experiencing some of these inevitable symptoms as we spoke on the phone. My friend called me because the same thing happened to me six years ago -- and when she remembered this, she dialed the phone from a state thousands of miles away. And despite our distance, our connection was close enough for comfort.

Multiple pregnancies for women who carry the inherited mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes appears to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer, according to researchers from the German Cancer Research Center. The International BRCA1/2 Carrier Cohort Study set out to examine if the same breast cancer protective factors of multiple births and breastfeeding provided to women without the genetic mutations extended to women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. 

According to the study, women with one child have the same breast cancer risk as childless women. The risk of developing breast cancer after age 40 was lowered by 14 percent with every child. Interestingly, women with a BRCA2 mutation had twice the cancer risk if they had given birth to their first child after age 20 compared to those who had become mothers before age 20. For carriers of BRCA1 mutations, it was the exact opposite. The risk of getting breast cancer was lower in women who had given birth to their first child after age 30. The only thing about research -- it is only correct until the next research study. I only say this because I hear over and over from women who are surprised by a breast cancer diagnosis when they did not have any of the risk factors or they fit the profile of a woman with reduced risk. If you have the inherited BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes, the study results are a generalization, and your individual situation might differ. I would not sit here and read into this study that you are going to get breast cancer because you only gave birth to one child -- or that you didn't have children at the optimum age.