Body fatness at young ages and risk of breast cancer throughout life.
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.
Baer
Heather J
HJ
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02120, USA. hbaer@partners.org
Tworoger
Shelley S
SS
Hankinson
Susan E
SE
Willett
Walter C
WC
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
Ann Epidemiol. 1992 Sep;2(5):597-609
1342311
J Clin Epidemiol. 2004 Feb;57(2):113-22
15125620
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Sep;16(9):1795-802
17855697
J Mammary Gland Biol Neoplasia. 2002 Jan;7(1):3-15
12160084
Br J Cancer. 2001 Nov 30;85(11):1680-4
11742488
Biometrics. 1995 Jun;51(2):524-32
7662841
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2004 Jul;13(7):1121-7
15247122
Int J Cancer. 2009 Jan 15;124(2):402-11
18798278
Lancet Oncol. 2007 Dec;8(12):1088-1100
18054879
J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2002 Feb;80(2):163-74
11897501
Endocr Relat Cancer. 2007 Sep;14(3):721-32
17914102
Am J Epidemiol. 2000 Sep 15;152(6):514-27
10997541
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007 Sep;16(9):1880-8
17855709
Control Clin Trials. 1986 Sep;7(3):177-88
3802833
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2006 Dec;15(12):2494-501
17164375
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1995 Jul-Aug;4(5):567-71
7549816
JAMA. 2006 Jul 12;296(2):193-201
16835425
Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1994 Jul;171(1):171-7
8030695
Cancer. 1999 Jun 1;85(11):2400-9
10357411
Arch Intern Med. 2006 Nov 27;166(21):2395-402
17130395
Am J Physiol. 1995 Jul;269(1 Pt 1):E118-26
7631766
Res Publ Assoc Res Nerv Ment Dis. 1983;60:115-20
6823524
Am J Epidemiol. 1993 Jul 1;138(1):56-64
8333427
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2002 Apr 17;94(8):606-16
11959894
Breast Cancer Res Treat. 1982;2(1):5-73
6216933
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005 Dec;14(12):2889-97
16365006
Am J Epidemiol. 2005 Nov 15;162(10):975-82
16207808
Nat Rev Cancer. 2004 Aug;4(8):579-91
15286738
J Natl Cancer Inst. 2003 Aug 20;95(16):1218-26
12928347
Cancer Causes Control. 2004 Feb;15(1):1-9
14970729
Br J Cancer. 2005 Oct 3;93(7):817-24
16160699
Cancer Res. 1974 Oct;34(10):2643-6
4413074
Am J Epidemiol. 1984 May;119(5):837-9
6720679
N Engl J Med. 2004 Oct 14;351(16):1619-26
15483280
Eur J Cancer Prev. 2001 Feb;10(1):15-32
11263588
Lancet. 2004 Apr 24;363(9418):1346-53
15110491
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1990 Oct;71(4):970-4
2144859
Am J Epidemiol. 1988 Jul;128(1):137-52
3381822
Trends Endocrinol Metab. 2002 Nov;13(9):392-7
12367821
Int J Cancer. 1998 Mar 30;76(1):29-34
9533758
JAMA. 1997 Nov 5;278(17):1407-11
9355998
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 Feb;17(2):374-8
18250344
Clin Breast Cancer. 2008 Aug;8(4):334-42
18757260
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003 Oct;88(10):4805-10
14557458
Eur J Cancer Prev. 2005 Aug;14(4):419-26
16030434
Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1998 Nov;22(11):1035-40
9822939
Cancer Res. 1973 Jul;33(7):1567-9
4737228
Breast Cancer Res. 2005;7(3):R314-25
15987426