Both of those findings hint that some factor in the womb may prime prostate cells for cancer in the future. Researchers have uncovered intrauterine ties to other diseases as well. High birthweight correlates with an increased risk of obesity. Low birthweight has been linked to high risk of hypertension and diabetes. Taken together, such findings suggest that life in the womb may contain glimmerings of diseases that appear to strike in middle age and beyond.
Many researchers now hope that the factors operating during pregnancy can be altered.
For breast cancer, that hope is something to hold onto in a field littered with grim statistics. Curhan, G., et al. 1996. Birth weight and adult hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and obesity in US men. Ekbom, A., et al. A population-based study.