Epidemiology

You have full text access to this OnlineOpen article

Adult weight change and incidence of premenopausal breast cancer

  1. Karin B. Michels1,2,3,†,*,
  2. Kathryn L. Terry1,2,
  3. A. Heather Eliassen2,
  4. Susan E. Hankinson2,3,
  5. Walter C. Willett2,3,4

Article first published online: 9 MAY 2011

DOI: 10.1002/ijc.26069

Issue

International Journal of Cancer

International Journal of Cancer

Volume 130, Issue 4, pages 902–909, 15 February 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Michels, K. B., Terry, K. L., Eliassen, A. H., Hankinson, S. E. and Willett, W. C. (2012), Adult weight change and incidence of premenopausal breast cancer. Int. J. Cancer, 130: 902–909. doi: 10.1002/ijc.26069

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

  2. 2

    Department of Medicine, Channing Laboratory, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA

  3. 3

    Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

  4. 4

    Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA

  1. †

    Tel.: 617-732-8496, Fax: 617-732-4899

*Obstetrics and Gynecology Epidemiology Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 221 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA

  1. †

    Tel.: 617-732-8496, Fax: 617-732-4899

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 16 DEC 2011
  2. Article first published online: 9 MAY 2011
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 16 MAR 2011 01:46PM EST
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 7 MAR 2011
  5. Manuscript Received: 10 DEC 2010

Funded by

  • National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (Public Health Service). Grant Numbers: R01 CA114326, R01 CA50385, R01 CA87969, R25 CA098566

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (147K)

Keywords:

  • breast cancer;
  • premenopausal;
  • weight gain;
  • weight loss;
  • BMI

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are inversely related to the risk of breast cancer among premenopausal women. We assessed the association between adult weight change since age 18 years with the risk of breast cancer among premenopausal women to explore whether weight gain was associated with a decrease in risk and weight loss was associated with an increase in risk. A total of 56,223 premenopausal participants in the Nurses' Health Study and 109,385 premenopausal participants in the Nurses' Health Study II were prospectively followed for up to 32 years and 18 years, respectively, and weight change since age 18 years was assessed biennially. The incidence of invasive breast cancer was assessed throughout follow-up. Weight loss of 5 kg or more since age 18, maintained for at least 4 years, was related to lower incidence of premenopausal breast cancer, compared to maintaining a stable weight, but this relation was of borderline statistical significance (covariate-adjusted HR = 0.75; 95% CI 0.52–1.09). Weight gain since age 18 years was also inversely related to breast cancer incidence among premenopausal women (covariate-adjusted p for trend = 0.01), but the association weakened after controlling for weight at age 18 and did not reach statistical significance (p for trend = 0.08). Although obesity and breast cancer among premenopausal women are inversely related, weight loss since age 18 years did not increase and weight gain did not significantly decrease the risk of premenopausal breast cancer among participants in the large prospective cohorts of NHS and NHS II.

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (147K)