title: Birth weight and subsequent risk of cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We aimed to determine the association between self-reported birth weight and incident cancer in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study cohort, a large multiethnic cohort of postmenopausal women.
  
  
  METHODS
  65,850 women reported their birth weight by category (<6 lbs, 6-7 lbs 15 oz, 8-9 lbs 15 oz, and ≥10 lbs). All self-reported, incident cancers were adjudicated by study staff. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate crude and adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) for associations between birth weight and: (1) all cancer sites combined, (2) gynecologic cancers, and (3) several site-specific cancer sites.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjustments, birth weight was positively associated with the risk of lung cancer (p=0.01), and colon cancer (p=0.04). An inverse trend was observed between birth weight and risk for leukemia (p=0.04). A significant trend was not observed with breast cancer risk (p=0.67); however, women born weighing ≥10 lbs were less likely to develop breast cancer compared to women born between 6 lbs-7 lbs 15 oz (aHR 0.77, 95% CI 0.63, 0.94).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Birth weight category appears to be significantly associated with the risk of any postmenopausal incident cancer, though the direction of the association varies by cancer type.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, 145 North Riverside Drive, S471 CPHB, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Cassandra N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Spracklen
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, 145 North Riverside Drive, S422 CPHB, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences, Wayne State University School of Medicine, 3939 Woodward Avenue, Room 319, Detroit, MI 48201, United States.
authors.forename: Shawnita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sealy-Jefferson
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, 145 North Riverside Drive, S455 CPHB, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Jennifer G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University at Buffalo, 270 Farber Hall, Buffalo, NY 14214, United States.
authors.forename: Jo L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Freudenheim
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology, and Metabolism, Vanderbilt University, 2213 Garland Avenue, Nashville, TN 37232, United States.
authors.forename: Melissa F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Wellons
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, 145 North Riverside Drive, S427 CPHB, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Audrey F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Saftlas
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, 145 North Riverside Drive, S425 CPHB, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Linda G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Snetselaar
authors.affiliation: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 900 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, United States.
authors.forename: JoAnn E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Manson
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventative Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 608 North Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60611, United States; Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, 303 East Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60611, United States.
authors.forename: Lifang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Sciences, School of Medicine, University of California at Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, United States.
authors.forename: Lihong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1124 West Carson Street, Torrance, CA 90502, United States.
authors.forename: Rowan T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Chlebowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, 145 North Riverside Drive, CPHB, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States. Electronic address: kelli-ryckman@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Kelli K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Ryckman
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001724:Birth Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D017698:Postmenopause; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012306:Risk
keywords: Birth weight; Breast neoplasms; Colorectal neoplasms; Endometrial neoplasms; Leukemia; Lung neoplasms; Neoplasms; Ovarian neoplasms
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