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Vigorous physical activity and risk of breast cancer in the African American breast cancer epidemiology and risk consortium

  • Epidemiology
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Abstract

The relationship between physical activity and breast cancer risk has been extensively studied among women of European descent, with most studies reporting inverse associations. However, data on American women of African ancestry (AA) and by tumor subtypes are sparse. Thus, we examined associations of vigorous exercise and breast cancer risk overall, and by estrogen receptor (ER) status, in the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk Consortium. We pooled data from four large studies on 2482 ER+ cases, 1374 ER− cases, and 16,959 controls. Multivariable logistic regression was used to compute odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) for the risk of breast cancer overall, and polytomous logistic regression was used to model the risk of ER+ and ER− cancer. Recent vigorous exercise was associated with a statistically significant, modestly decreased risk for breast cancer overall (OR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.81–0.96) and for ER+ cancer (OR 0.88, 95 % CI 0.80–0.98), but not for ER− cancer (OR 0.93, 95 % CI 0.82–1.06). Overall, there was no strong evidence of effect modification by age, menopausal status, body mass index, and parity. However, our data were suggestive of modification by family history, such that an inverse association was present among women without a family history but not among those with a relative affected by breast cancer. Results from this large pooled analysis provide evidence that vigorous physical activity is associated with a modestly reduced risk of breast cancer in AA women, specifically ER+ cancer.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the contributing studies’ participants and staff. They would also like to acknowledge the late Robert Millikan, DVM, MPH, PhD, who was instrumental in the creation of this consortium. Data on breast cancer pathology were obtained from several state cancer registries (Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia). The results reported do not necessarily represent their views.

Financial support

This research was funded by National Institutes of Health: P01 CA151135, R01 CA058420, UM1 CA164974, R01 CA100598, R01 CA098663, UM1 CA164973, R01 CA54281, R01 CA063464, R01 CA185623, P50 CA58223, U01 CA179715, K07 CA178293, Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, Era of Hope Scholar Award Program W81XWH-08-1-0383, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the University Cancer Research Fund of North Carolina. The results do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors, who had no role in study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; or writing and submission of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cancer Prevention and Control, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, 14263, USA

    Zhihong Gong, Chi-Chen Hong, Gary Zirpoli & Christine B. Ambrosone

  2. Cancer Prevention and Control, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Elisa V. Bandera

  3. Cancer Prevention and Control, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, USA

    Lucile L. Adams-Campbell

  4. Cancer Epidemiology, University of North Carolina, Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Melissa A. Troester & Andrew F. Olshan

  5. Cancer Epidemiology, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Song-Yi Park

  6. Slone Epidemiology Center at Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    Kathryn A. McInerney, Julie R. Palmer & Lynn Rosenberg

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  1. Zhihong Gong
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  2. Chi-Chen Hong
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  3. Elisa V. Bandera
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  4. Lucile L. Adams-Campbell
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  5. Melissa A. Troester
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  6. Song-Yi Park
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  7. Kathryn A. McInerney
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  9. Andrew F. Olshan
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  10. Julie R. Palmer
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  11. Christine B. Ambrosone
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Correspondence to Zhihong Gong.

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Gong, Z., Hong, CC., Bandera, E.V. et al. Vigorous physical activity and risk of breast cancer in the African American breast cancer epidemiology and risk consortium. Breast Cancer Res Treat 159, 347–356 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-016-3936-3

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