title: Body fatness at young ages and risk of breast cancer throughout life.
abstract: Body fatness at young ages may be related to breast cancer risk independently of adult adiposity. The authors conducted a prospective analysis among 188,860 women (7,582 breast cancer cases) in the Nurses' Health Study (1988-2004) and Nurses' Health Study II (1989-2005) who recalled their body fatness at ages 5, 10, and 20 years using a 9-level pictogram (level 1: most lean; level 9: most overweight). Body fatness at young ages was inversely associated with risk of both premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer (per 1-unit increase in adolescent body fatness, relative risk (RR) = 0.88 and RR = 0.91, respectively; P(trend) < 0.0001). Among all women, the RR for adolescent body fatness of level 6.5 or higher versus level 1 was 0.57 (per 1-unit increase, RR = 0.90; P(trend) < 0.0001) and was unaffected by adjustment for current body mass index. The association was stronger for women with birth weights under 8.5 pounds (<3.9 kg) than for women with birth weights of 8.5 pounds or more (> or =3.9 kg) (per 1-unit increase, RR = 0.89 and RR = 0.94, respectively; P(interaction) = 0.04) and stronger for estrogen receptor-negative tumors than for estrogen receptor-positive tumors (per 1-unit increase, RR = 0.86 and RR = 0.92, respectively; P(heterogeneity) = 0.03). Body fatness at young ages has a strong and independent inverse relation to breast cancer risk throughout life.
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02120, USA. hbaer@partners.org
authors.forename: Heather J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Baer
authors.forename: Shelley S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Tworoger
authors.forename: Susan E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Hankinson
authors.forename: Walter C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Willett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001724:Birth Weight; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors; D055815:Young Adult
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