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A prospective study of occupational physical activity and breast cancer risk

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Abstract

Purpose

Physical activity has been associated with reduced breast cancer risk, but studies of occupational activity have produced inconsistent results. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between occupational physical activity and breast cancer in a prospective study of women with a family history of breast cancer.

Methods

We studied breast cancer risk in 47,649 Sister Study participants with an occupational history. Information on occupational activity and breast cancer risk factors was collected during baseline interviews (2004–2009). Physical activity at each job was self-reported and categorized as mostly sitting, sitting and standing equally, mostly standing, and active. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to evaluate associations between lifetime occupational activity and incident breast cancer, after adjusting for established risk factors and recreational activity.

Results

During follow-up, a total of 1,798 breast cancer diagnoses were reported. Compared with women who did not spend any time in active jobs, women who spent a high proportion (≥75 %) of their working years in active jobs had a reduced risk of breast cancer (HR 0.72; 95 % CI 0.52–0.98). Associations were strongest among overweight (HR 0.64; 95 % CI 0.42–0.98) and postmenopausal (HR 0.67; 95 % CI 0.45–0.98) women.

Conclusions

Occupational activity was associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. Occupational activity is a domain of physical activity that should be further examined in studies of postmenopausal breast cancer risk. Additional research is necessary to better understand the mechanisms underlying the relationships between occupational activity, body size, and breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Drs Matthew Longnecker and Anne Marie Jukic for their helpful comments.

Funding

This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (Z01-ES-044005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, Campus Box 8100, 600 South Taylor Avenue, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA

    Christine C. Ekenga

  2. Epidemiology Branch, Department of Health and Human Services, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27709, USA

    Christine G. Parks & Dale P. Sandler

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  1. Christine C. Ekenga
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Correspondence to Dale P. Sandler.

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Ekenga, C.C., Parks, C.G. & Sandler, D.P. A prospective study of occupational physical activity and breast cancer risk. Cancer Causes Control 26, 1779–1789 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-015-0671-8

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