Abstract
The hypothesis that birth weight is positively associated with adult risk of breast cancer implies that factors related to intrauterine growth may be important for the development of this malignancy. Using stored birth records from the two main hospitals in Trondheim and Bergen, Norway, we collected information on birth weight, birth length and placenta weight among 373 women who developed breast cancer. From the same archives, we selected as controls 1150 women of identical age as the cases without a history of breast cancer. Information on age at first birth and parity were collected from the Central Person Registry in Norway. Based on conditional logistic regression analysis, breast cancer risk was positively associated with birth weight and with birth length (P for trend=0.02). Birth weights in the highest quartile (3730 g or more) were associated with 40% higher risk (odds ratio, 1.4, 95% confidence interval, 1.1–1.9) of breast cancer compared to birth weights in the lowest quartile (less than 3090 g). For birth length, the odds ratio for women who were 51.5 cm or more (highest quartile) was 1.3 (95% confidence interval, 1.0–1.8) compared to being less than 50 cm (lowest quartile) at birth. Adjustment for age at first birth and parity did not change these estimates. Placenta weight was not associated with breast cancer risk. This study provides strong evidence that intrauterine factors may influence future risk of breast cancer. A common feature of such factors would be their ability to stimulate foetal growth and, simultaneously, to influence intrauterine development of the mammary gland.British Journal of Cancer (2002) 86, 89–91. DOI: 10.1038/sj/bjc/6600011 www.bjcancer.com© 2002 The Cancer Research Campaign
Highlights
2000), and the results of three case – control studies showed positive but weak associations (Innes et al, 2000; Hubinette et al, 2001; Kajser et al, 2001)
As expected, increasing age at first birth was associated with increasing risk of breast cancer, and there was a reduction in risk with increasing parity (Table 2), and for birth order, there was no association
We found a positive association between birth weight and breast cancer risk (Table 2, P for trend=0.02)
Summary
2000), and the results of three case – control studies showed positive but weak associations (Innes et al, 2000; Hubinette et al, 2001; Kajser et al, 2001). In a review of the hypothesis that intrauterine exposures may affect adult breast cancer risk, Potischman and Troisi (1999) concluded that the question remains unresolved and that more studies are warranted. Since historical records of perinatal information are available in Scandinavian countries (Ekbom et al, 1992, 1997), we conducted a case – control study of breast cancer using birth records of two large hospitals in Norway. Our primary objective was to assess the association between birth size (i.e., weight and length) and breast cancer risk based on direct measurements obtained at birth. Using available information we could adjust for potential confounding by the established risk factors of age at first birth and parity, which were not available in the Swedish data (Ekbom et al, 1992, 1997)
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