Abstract 1826: Anthropometric characteristics, physical activity and risk of lymphoid neoplasms in a large US cohort

Abstract

Abstract Body size, height, and physical inactivity are known to alter immune function and have been hypothesized to increase risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). However, results of other studies are inconsistent and whether these relationships vary by histologic subtypes of NHL is not well-documented. Therefore, we examined measures of body size (BMI, adult weight gain, and BMI at age 18), height, physical activity, and sitting time in relation to risk of NHL overall and within the major subtypes (diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), follicular lymphoma (FL), and B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL), and multiple myeloma (MM)) in the American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS-II) Nutrition Cohort, a prospective study of cancer incidence and mortality, using information obtained at baseline in 1992. From 1992-2007, 2000 incident NHL cases were identified among 150,189 men and women who were cancer-free at enrollment. Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to compute hazard rate ratios (RR) while adjusting for potential confounders. Obese men and women (BMI > 30) had a 20% higher incidence of all NHL (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.05-1.37) compared to normal weight individuals (BMI 18.5-<25). BMI at age 18 and BMI measured 10-years prior to baseline (in 1982) were also associated with NHL risk (trend p=0.008 and p=0.0003, respectively) in men and women, even after adjustment for baseline BMI. Height was positively associated with overall risk (RR=1.25, 95% CI 1.10-1.43 for sex-specific quintile 5 vs. 1). Associations were similar across all subtypes of NHL examined. Measures of physical activity and sitting time were not associated with risk of NHL or within any specific subtype. These findings suggest that obesity throughout adulthood and greater height may play a role in the etiology of NHL. While more recent obesity may impact immune function or levels of various hormones, height and BMI at age 18 may reflect early-life consequences of nutrition or exposure to growth hormones. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1826.