Windows in early mammary development: critical or not?

Two critical windows in mammary development have been proposed. The first arises from observations in rodents that nutrition during fetal and neonatal periods can affect mammary ductular outgrowth, subsequent proliferative activity and, eventually, tumorigenesis, that is, potentially it could have a long-term effect on pathological outcome (breast cancer) in women. The second similarly involves early diet, but in this case the outcome is phenotypic, in that dairy heifers reared too quickly during the peripubertal period subsequently show impaired udder development and reduced milk yield persisting throughout life. Most mammary development occurs during pregnancy, but this period is usually thought of only in terms of the immediate outcome for the subsequent lactation; it is not believed to be a critical window, at least in terms of lifetime mammary productivity. This review examines the evidence underlying these various claims and attempts to define the mechanisms involved, and also considers whether derangements occurring earlier in life (prenatally) could also have long-term consequences for physiological or pathological mammary development.