Hostname: page-component-77c78cf97d-lphnv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-04-29T20:19:07.646Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Perinatal characteristics and breast cancer risk in daughters: aScandinavian population-based study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2012

R. Troisi ,
T. Grotmol ,
J. Jacobsen ,
S. Tretli ,
H.T. Sørensen ,
M. Gissler ,
R. Kaaja ,
N. Potischman ,
A. Ekbom  and
R. N. Hoover
...Show all authors
R. Troisi*
Affiliation:
Divisions of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
T. Grotmol
Affiliation:
Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-Based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway
J. Jacobsen
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
S. Tretli
Affiliation:
Cancer Registry of Norway, Institute of Population-Based Cancer Research, Oslo, Norway
H.T. Sørensen
Affiliation:
Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
M. Gissler
Affiliation:
Department of Information, THL National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland Nordic School of Public Health, Gothenburg, Sweden
R. Kaaja
Affiliation:
Turku University, Turku, Finland
N. Potischman
Affiliation:
Divisions of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
A. Ekbom
Affiliation:
Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
R. N. Hoover
Affiliation:
Divisions of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, MD, USA
O. Stephansson
Affiliation:
Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
*
*Address for correspondence: Dr R. Troisi, Dartmouth HitchcockMedical Center, One Medical Center Drive, 7927 Rubin Building, Room 854,Lebanon, NH 03756, USA. (Email troisir@mail.nih.gov)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The in utero origins of breast cancer are an increasing focus ofresearch. However, the long time period between exposure and disease diagnosis,and the lack of standardized perinatal data collection makes this researchchallenging. We assessed perinatal factors, as proxies for inutero exposures, and breast cancer risk using pooled,population-based birth and cancer registry data. Birth registries providedinformation on perinatal exposures. Cases were females born in Norway, Sweden orDenmark who were subsequently diagnosed with primary, invasive breast cancer(n = 1419). Ten controls for each case were selected fromthe birth registries matched on country and birth year (n =14,190). Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimatedusing unconditional regression models. Breast cancer risk rose 7% (95% CI2–13%) with every 500 g (roughly 1 s.d.) increase in birthweight and 7% for every 1 s.d. increase in birth length (95% CI1–14%). The association with birth length was attenuated after adjustmentfor birth weight, while the increase in risk with birth weight remained withadjustment for birth length. Ponderal index and small- andlarge-for-gestational-age status were not better predictors of risk than eitherweight or length alone. Risk was not associated with maternal education or age,gestational duration, delivery type or birth order, or with several pregnancycomplications, including preeclampsia. These data confirm the positiveassociation between birth weight and breast cancer risk. Other pregnancycharacteristics, including complications such as preeclampsia, do not appear tobe involved in later breast carcinogenesis in young women.

Keywords

birth weightbreast cancerearly lifein uteropreeclampsiaprenatal

Information

Type
Original Article
Information
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , February 2013 , pp. 35 - 41
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

1. Ekbom, A, Hsieh, C-C, Lipworth, L, Adami, H-O, Trichopoulos, D. Intrauterine environment and breast cancer risk in women: a population-based study. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1997; 89, 71–76.Google Scholar
2. Troisi, R, Potischman, N, Hoover, RN. Prenatal risk factors for breast cancer: exploring the underlying mechanisms. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2007; 16, 1700–1712.Google Scholar
3. Vatten, LJ, Romunstad, PR, Holmen, TL, et al. Intrauterine exposure to preeclampsia and adolescent blood pressure, body size and age at menarche in female offspring. Obstet Gynecol. 2003; 101, 529–533.Google Scholar
4. Xue, F, Michels, KB. Intrauterine factors and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis of current evidence. Lancet Oncol. 2007; 8, 1088–1100.Google Scholar
5. Barlow, L, Westergren, K, Holmberg, L, et al. The completeness of the Swedish Cancer Register – a sample survey for year 1998. Acta Oncologica. 2009; 48, 27–33.Google Scholar
6. Larsen, IK, Småstuen, M, Johannesen, TB, et al. Data quality at the Cancer Registry of Norway: an overview of comparability, completeness, validity and timeliness. Eur J Cancer. 2009; 45, 1218–1231.Google Scholar
7. Jensen, AR, Overgaard, J, Storm, HH. Validity of breast cancer in the Danish Cancer Registry. A study based on clinical records from one county in Denmark. Eur J Cancer Prev. 2002; 11, 359–364.Google Scholar
8. Irgens, LM. The Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Epidemiological research and surveillance throughout 30 years. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavia. 2000; 79, 435–439.Google Scholar
9. Socialstyrelsen. Medicinska födelseregistret, 2009. Retrieved September 7, 2009, from http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/Statistik/statistik_amne/graviditet/MFR.htm.Google Scholar
10. Cnattingius, S, Ericson, A, Gunnarskog, J, Kallen, B. A quality study of a medical birth registry. Scand J Soc Med. 1990; 18, 143–148.Google Scholar
11. Knudsen, LB, Olsen, J. The Danish Medical Birth Registry. Dan Med Bull. 1998; 45, 320–323.Google Scholar
12. Maršál, K, Persson, P-H, Larsen, T, et al. Intrauterine growth curves based on ultrasonically estimated foetal weights. Acta Pædiatr. 1996; 85, 843–848.Google Scholar
13. Silva dos Santos Silva, I, De Stavola, B, McCormack, V, Collaborative Group on Pre-Natal Risk Factors and Subsequent Risk of Breast Cancer. Birth size and breast cancer risk: re-analysis of individual participant data from 32 studies. PLoS Med. 2008; 5, e193.Google Scholar
14. van den Brandt, PA, Spiegelman, D, Yaun, SS, et al. Pooled analysis of prospective cohort studies on height, weight, and breast cancer risk. Am J Epidemiol. 2000; 152, 514–527.Google Scholar
15. Tamimi, RM, Eriksson, L, Lagiou, P, et al. Birth weight and mammographic density among postmenopausal women in Sweden. Int J Cancer. 2010; 126, 985–991.Google Scholar
16. Sanderson, M, Williams, MA, Daling, JR, et al. Maternal factors and breast cancer risk among young women. Paediatric Perinatal Epidemiol. 1998; 12, 397–407.Google Scholar
17. Innes, K, Byers, T, Schymura, M. Birth characteristics and subsequent risk for breast cancer in very young women. Am J Epidemiol. 2000; 152, 1121–1128.Google Scholar
18. Lahmann, PH, Gullberg, B, Olsson, H, et al. Birth weight is associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk in Swedish women. Br J Cancer. 2006; 91, 1666–1668.Google Scholar
19. Tucker, MJ, Berg, CJ, Callaghan, WM, Hsai, J. The black–white disparity in pregnancy-related mortality from 5 conditions: differences in prevalence and case-fatality rates. Am J Public Health. 2007; 97, 247–251.Google Scholar
20. Klungsøyr, K, Morken, NH, Irgens, L, Vollset, SE, Skjaerven, R. Secular trends in the epidemiology of pre-eclampsia throughout 40 years in Norway: prevalence, risk factors and perinatal survival. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol. 2012; 26, 190–198.Google Scholar
21. Anderson, WF, Katki, HA, Rosenberg, PS. Incidence of Breast Cancer in the United States: current and future trends. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2011; 103, 1397–1402.Google Scholar
22. Althuis, MD, Brogan, DD, Coates, RJ, et al. Breast cancers among very young premenopausal women (United States). Cancer Causes Control. 2003; 14, 151–160.Google Scholar
23. Oberg, S, Cnattingius, S, Sandin, S, Lichtenstein, P, Iliadou, A. Birth weight-breast cancer revisited: is the association confounded by familial factors? Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2009; 18, 2447–2452.Google Scholar
24. Tapanainen, J, Koivisto, M, Vihko, R, Huhtaniemi, I. Enhanced activity of the pituitary–gonadal axis in premature human infants. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1981; 52, 235–238.Google Scholar
25. Potischman, N, Troisi, R. In-utero and early life exposures in relation to risk of breast cancer. Cancer Causes Control. 1999; 10, 561–573.Google Scholar
26. Ekbom, A, Erlandsson, G, Hsieh, C, et al. Risk of breast cancer in prematurely born women. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2000; 92, 840–841.Google Scholar
27. Hübinette, A, Lichtenstein, P, Ekbom, A, Cnattingius, S. Birth characteristics and breast cancer risk: a study among like-sexed twins. Int J Cancer. 2001; 91, 248–251.Google Scholar
28. Hemminki, K, Kyyrönen, P. Parental age and risk of sporadic and familial cancer in offspring: implications for germ cell mutagenesis. Epidemiology. 1999; 10, 747–751.Google Scholar
29. Titus-Ernstoff, L, Egan, KM, Newcomb, PA, et al. Early life factors in relation to breast cancer risk in postmenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2002; 11, 207–210.Google Scholar
30. Holm, NV. Studies of cancer etiology in the Danish Twin Population. I. Breast cancer. In Twin Research 3: Epidemiological and Clinical Studies (ed. Gedda L), 1981; pp. 211–216. Alan R. Liss, Inc.: New York.Google Scholar
31. Kaprio, J, Teppo, L, Koskenvuo, A, Pukkala, E. Cancer in the adult same-sex twins: a historical cohort study. In Twin Research 3: Epidemiological and Clinical Studies (ed. Gedda L), 1981; pp. 217–223. Alan R. Liss, Inc.: New York.Google Scholar
32. Braun, MM, Ahlbom, A, Floderus, B, Brinton, L, Hoover, RN. Effect of twinship on incidence of cancer of the testis, breast and other sites (Sweden). Cancer Causes Control. 1995; 6, 519–524.Google Scholar
33. Ahlbom, A, Lichtenstein, P, Malmström, H, et al. Cancer in twins: genetic and nongenetic familial risk factors. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1997; 89, 287–293.Google Scholar