title: Body size, weight change, fat distribution and breast cancer risk in Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The incidence of breast cancer varies among women living in the Southwestern part of the US. We evaluate how body size influences breast cancer risk among these women.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cases (n = 2,325) diagnosed with breast cancer between October 1, 1999 and May 2004 residing in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, or Utah were matched to controls (n = 2,525). Participants were interviewed; height, weight, waist, and hip circumference were measured at the time of interview; blood was drawn.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A large body mass index (BMI) at age 15 was inversely associated with pre-menopausal breast cancer risk in both non-Hispanic white (NHW) and Hispanic women (Odds ratio, ORs 0.68 95% CI 0.44, 1.04, and 0.65 95% CI 0.39, 1.08, respectively); BMI at age 15 also had an impact on subsequent breast cancer associated with obesity after menopause. Among post-menopausal women, recent exposure to hormones was an important modifier of risk associated with body size. Among women not recently exposed to hormones risk associated with obesity was 1.61 (95% CI 1.05, 2.45) for NHW women; gaining > or = 25 kg between 15 and age 50 was inversely associated with breast cancer among Hispanic women (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.23, 1.14). A large weight gain and a large waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) was associated with an increased odds of having an estrogen receptor negative tumor among NHW only (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.07, 3.08, and 2.04 95% CI 1.20,3.50).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that the metabolic consequences of obesity on breast cancer risk differ between NHW and Hispanic women living in the Southwest.
authors.affiliation: Health Research Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84117, USA. mslatter@hrc.utah.edu
authors.forename: Martha L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Slattery
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sweeney
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herrick
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wolff
authors.forename: Maureen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murtaugh
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giuliano
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Byers
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size; D001835:Body Weight; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000208:ethnology / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D044465:White People
chemical_list: D011960:Receptors, Estrogen