Uno studio pubblicato da Mingfeng Zhang, Xuehong Zhang, Abrar A. Qureshi, et al, ha ipotizzato una relazione tra numero dei nevi e tumore al seno, il numero dei nei potrebbe essere un marker fenotipico dei livelli plastici ormonali che favoriscono la comparsa di tumore al seno.
In summary, we identified the number of cutaneous nevi as a novel phenotypic marker associated with breast cancer risk. Given that higher numbers of cutaneous nevi reflect higher levels of plasma free testosterone and free estradiol, the number of cutaneous nevi may be a surrogate for sex hormone exposure. Our study was conducted in white individuals, so further studies are needed to confirm our findings in other populations. In addition, because our study was observational, these results should be interpreted cautiously and are insufficient to alter current clinical recommendations. Nevertheless, our data provide epidemiological evidence on the possible link between cutaneous nevi and breast cancer risk and support a need for continued investigation of this relationship.