title: Dietary exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls and risk of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer in a prospective cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Observational studies on polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) exposure and hormone-related cancer risk are either inconsistent or lacking. We aimed to assess associations of dietary PCB exposure with breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer risk in middle-aged and elderly women.
  
  
  METHODS
  We included 36 777 cancer-free women at baseline in 1997 from the prospective population-based Swedish Mammography Cohort. Validated estimates of dietary PCB exposure were obtained via a food frequency questionnaire. Incident cancer cases were ascertained through register linkage.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 14 years of follow-up, we ascertained 1593, 437 and 195 incident cases of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer. We found no overall association between dietary PCB exposure and any of these cancer forms. The multivariable-adjusted relative risks comparing women in the highest and lowest tertile of PCB exposure were 0.96 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.75, 1.24), 1.21 (95% CI: 0.73, 2.01) and 0.90 (95% CI: 0.45, 1.79) for breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer. In analyses stratified by factors influencing oestrogen exposure, possibly masking associations with PCBs, indications of higher risks were observed for endometrial cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that dietary exposure to PCBs play no critical role in the development of breast, endometrial or ovarian cancer during middle-age and old ages.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain.|IDISNA, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra, 31008 Pamplona, Spain.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Donat-Vargas
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Agneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Åkesson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Marika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Berglund
authors.affiliation: Department of Risk and Benefit Assessment, National Food Agency, Box 622, SE-751 26 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anders
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Glynn
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Alicja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wolk
authors.affiliation: Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kippler
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D004032:Diet; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls / Q000633:toxicity*; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D011078:Polychlorinated Biphenyls