Skip Navigation


American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on December 27, 2007
American Journal of Epidemiology 2008 167(5):579-585; doi:10.1093/aje/kwm350
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
167/5/579    most recent
kwm350v2
kwm350v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Peters, T. M.
Right arrow Articles by Wareham, N. J.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Peters, T. M.
Right arrow Articles by Wareham, N. J.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

American Journal of Epidemiology © The Author 2007. Published by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS

Physical Activity and Mammographic Breast Density in the EPIC-Norfolk Cohort Study

Tricia M. Peters1,2, Ulf Ekelund1, Michael Leitzmann2, Douglas Easton3, Ruth Warren4, Robert Luben5, Sheila Bingham6, Kay-Tee Khaw7 and Nicholas J. Wareham1

1 MRC Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Cambridge, United Kingdom
2 National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
3 Cancer Research UK, Genetic Epidemiology Group, University of Cambridge, Strangeways Research Laboratory, Cambridge, United Kingdom
4 Department of Radiology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom
5 Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, United Kingdom
6 MRC Dunn Human Nutrition Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom
7 Clinical Gerontology Unit, University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Correspondence to Dr. Ulf Ekelund, MRC Epidemiology Unit, Institute of Metabolic Science, Box 285, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge, United Kingdom CB2 0QQ (e-mail: ulf.ekelund{at}mrc-epid.cam.ac.uk).

Received for publication July 20, 2007. Accepted for publication October 31, 2007.

Physical inactivity and high mammographic breast density have both been associated with increased breast cancer risk. However, the association between physical activity and mammographic breast density remains inconsistent. In the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer (EPIC)-Norfolk population-based cohort study (United Kingdom), the authors investigated the cross-sectional association between physical activity level at baseline during 1993–1997 and breast density among 1,394 postmenopausal, cancer-free women. Usual physical activity was assessed by a brief, validated questionnaire. Percentage breast density was determined visually from mammograms by three trained radiologists using the Boyd six-category scale. The association between physical activity level and breast density risk category was examined. No statistically significant association between physical activity and percentage breast density was observed in the unadjusted or adjusted regression models. A suggested increase in breast density for the most active women in the unadjusted regression analysis (odds ratio = 1.13, 95% confidence interval: 0.71, 1.80) was reversed after inclusion of body mass index and reproductive and lifestyle variables (odds ratio = 0.78, 95% confidence interval: 0.45, 1.34). The lack of an association between physical activity and percentage breast density suggests that an association between physical activity and breast cancer risk is unlikely to be mediated through an effect on mammographic breast density.

breast; breast neoplasms; exercise; mammography; motor activity

Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; EPIC, European Prospective Investigation of Cancer


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.