American Journal of Epidemiology Vol. 143, No. 10: 985-995
Copyright © 1996 by The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health
research-article |
Prospective Study of Relative Weight and Risk of Breast Cancer: The Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project Follow-up Study, 1979 to 1987–1989
1Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD
2Division of Cancer Etiology, National Cancer Institute Bethesda, MD
Reprint requests to Dr. Lee-Chen Yong, Cancer Prevention Studies Branch, DCPC, National Cancer Institute, EPN, Room 211, 6130 Executive Blvd., MSC 7326, Rockville, MD 20852.
Despite extensive research on obesity and breast cancer in recent decades, inconsistencies in the literature exist. The authors examined prospectively the relation between adult relative weight (weight (kg)/height (m)1.5) and breast cancer risk in a cohort of 54, 896 women aged 31–89 years who had previously participated in the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project. During a mean follow-up period of 7 years, 226 of the premenopausal women and 1,198 of the postmenopausal women developed breast cancer. Analysis was performed using Cox proportional hazards regression methods with age as the underlying time variable and adjusted for the effects of potential confounders. Among postmenopausal women, the risk of breast cancer increased with increasing relative weight (p < 0.05 for trend); relative risk for the highest compared with the lowest quintile for relative weight was 1.3 (95% confidence interval (Cl) 1.1–1.6). This association was modified by age at diagnosis, with relative risks of 1.1 (95% Cl 0.8–1.4), 1.2 (95% Cl 0.8–1.7), and 1.8 (95% Cl 1.3–2.5), respectively, for women aged <60, 60–64, and 
65 years. The higher risk of breast cancer among the older and overweight women was largely confined to women whose weights were measured during the postmenopausal but not the premenopausal period. This risk pattern was observed among the naturally menopausal women, but was also apparent in the smaller group of women with bilateral oophorectomy or hysterectomy with one ovary retained. Among premenopausal women, adult relative weight was not associated with breast cancer risk. These findings suggest that the inconsistencies in the literature on obesity and breast cancer may be due in part to the differing age distributions of the populations studied. The authors conclude that prevention of obesity throughout adulthood, particularly after menopause, may help reduce breast cancer among older women.
age factors; body weight; breast neoplasms; obesity; prospective studies; relative weight
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  S. S. Tworoger, S. A. Missmer, R. L. Barbieri, W. C. Willett, G. A. Colditz, and S. E. Hankinson Plasma Sex Hormone Concentrations and Subsequent Risk of Breast Cancer Among Women Using Postmenopausal Hormones J Natl Cancer Inst, April 20, 2005; 97(8): 595 - 602. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R. J. MacInnis, D. R. English, D. M. Gertig, J. L. Hopper, and G. G. Giles Body Size and Composition and Risk of Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., December 1, 2004; 13(12): 2117 - 2125. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Sweeney, C. K. Blair, K. E. Anderson, D. Lazovich, and A. R. Folsom Risk Factors for Breast Cancer in Elderly Women Am. J. Epidemiol., November 1, 2004; 160(9): 868 - 875. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. M. Vacek and B. M. Geller A Prospective Study of Breast Cancer Risk Using Routine Mammographic Breast Density Measurements Cancer Epidemiol. Biomarkers Prev., May 1, 2004; 13(5): 715 - 722. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
P. A. van den Brandt, D. Spiegelman, S.-S. Yaun, H.-O. Adami, L. Beeson, A. R. Folsom, G. Fraser, R. A. Goldbohm, S. Graham, L. Kushi, et al. Pooled Analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies on Height, Weight, and Breast Cancer Risk Am. J. Epidemiol., September 15, 2000; 152(6): 514 - 527. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Hilakivi-Clarke Estrogens, BRCA1, and Breast Cancer Cancer Res., September 1, 2000; 60(18): 4993 - 5001. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 A. K. Kant, A. Schatzkin, B. I. Graubard, and C. Schairer A Prospective Study of Diet Quality and Mortality in Women JAMA, April 26, 2000; 283(16): 2109 - 2115. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. I Li, J. L Stanford, and J. R Daling Anthropometric variables in relation to risk of breast cancer in middle-aged women Int. J. Epidemiol., April 1, 2000; 29(2): 208 - 213. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|