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Mammographic Breast Density and Acculturation: Longitudinal Analysis in Chinese Immigrants

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Abstract

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Asian American women have experienced steadily increasing breast cancer incidence rates over the past several decades. The increased rate might be in part due to acculturation. We tested the hypothesis that higher level of acculturation was associated with higher mammographic breast density (MBD), an indicator of breast cancer risk, in a cohort of 425 premenopausal Chinese immigrant women in Philadelphia. Generalized estimating equations accounted for repeated observations and adjusted for age, type of mammographic image, body mass index, months of breastfeeding, number of live births, age at first birth, and menopausal stage (pre, early peri, late peri, post). Results indicated that acculturation level was not associated with any of the MBD measures. Findings were contrary to our hypothesis and previous, cross-sectional studies. In this study population, reproductive factors had a greater effect on MBD than acculturation-related behaviors in adulthood.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Ms. Wanzi Yang, Ms. Qi He, Ms. Rong Cheng, Ms. Bingqin Zheng, Ms. Zemin Liu and Ms. Yun Song for their crucial work in collecting and managing data for the study; the Fox Chase Cancer Center Population Studies Facility for its data management support; and Dr. Philip Siu and Dr. Thomas Yuen of Chinatown Medical Services, and Dr. Ari Brooks and Ms. Sriya Krishnamoorthy of the Drexel University College of Medicine for their generous assistance in participant recruitment and provision of care.

Funding

This study was funded by the Doris A. Howell Foundation-CSUPERB Research Scholars Program, the Cal Poly Office of University Diversity & Inclusion, The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in STEM at Cal Poly, the National Science Foundation Grant HRD-1826490, and the National Institutes of Health Grant R01 CA106606.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinesiology and Public Health, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, USA

    Rebeca Almeida

  2. Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Carolyn Y. Fang

  3. Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Celia Byrne

  4. Department of Kinesiology and Public Health, California Polytechnic State University, 1 Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA

    Marilyn Tseng

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  1. Rebeca Almeida
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  4. Marilyn Tseng
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Correspondence to Marilyn Tseng.

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Almeida, R., Fang, C.Y., Byrne, C. et al. Mammographic Breast Density and Acculturation: Longitudinal Analysis in Chinese Immigrants. J Immigrant Minority Health 23, 1223–1231 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01107-1

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