Breast cancer incidence in women prenatally exposed to maternal cigarette smoke.
BACKGROUND
Clinical studies show that maternal cigarette smoking reduces pregnancy estrogen levels. Women prenatally exposed to maternal cigarette smoke may, therefore, have a lower breast cancer risk because the fetal mammary gland's exposure to maternal estrogen is decreased. Associations between prenatal maternal cigarette smoke exposure and breast cancer, however, have not been observed in previous case-control studies that relied on exposure assessment after the onset of cancer. At the start of this study, cigarette smoking history was obtained directly from the mother.


METHODS
The National Cooperative DES Adenosis project was a follow-up study of health outcomes in women prenatally exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES). At the start of the study, women's mothers provided information about cigarette smoking habits during the time they were pregnant with the study participant. In the current study, the breast cancer rates are compared among 4031 women who were or were not prenatally exposed to maternal cigarette smoke. The resultant relative rate (RR) is adjusted for potential confounding by other breast cancer risk factors using Poisson regression modeling.


RESULTS
Fetal exposure to maternal cigarette smoke appeared to be inversely associated with breast cancer incidence (RR = 0.49; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.24-1.03). The inverse association was more apparent among women whose mothers smoked 15 cigarettes or fewer per day than among daughters of heavier smokers. There were, however, too few cases to precisely estimate a possible dose-response relationship.


CONCLUSIONS
These results support the hypothesis that in utero exposure to maternal cigarette smoke reduces breast cancer incidence.
Strohsnitter
William C
WC
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tufts-New England Medical Center, 750 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111, USA. Wstrohsnitter@tufts-nemc.org
Noller
Kenneth L
KL
Titus-Ernstoff
Linda
L
Troisi
Rebecca
R
Hatch
Elizabeth E
EE
Poole
Charles
C
Glynn
Robert J
RJ
Hsieh
Chung-Cheng
CC
D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008431:Maternal-Fetal Exchange; D011247:Pregnancy; D012907:Smoking; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology