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Perinatal Exposures and Breast Cancer Risk in the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study

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Abstract

Background

There is increasing evidence that early life exposures, such as birth weight, infant feeding practices, birth rank and maternal age at delivery may play a role in breast carcinogenesis.

Methods

We conducted a case–control study of women aged 35–80 in Western New York (Western New York Exposure and Breast Cancer Study, the WEB Study, 1996–2001). The study included 845 women diagnosed with primary, incident, histologically confirmed breast cancer, and 1538 controls frequency-matched to cases on age, race, and county of residence. We conducted extensive in-person interviews including self-reported birth weight, history of having been breastfed, birth rank, and maternal age at delivery.

Results

Birth weight was significantly associated with pre- but not post-menopausal breast cancer risk. Compared to women whose birth weight was 5.5–7 pounds, we found an increased risk associated with a birth weight greater than 8.5 pounds (OR 1.84, 95%CI: 1.12–3.02). Risk was also increased for pre- but not post-menopausal women who had not been breastfed (OR 1.78, 95%CI: 1.21–2.60). Birth order and maternal age at delivery were not significantly associated with breast cancer risk.

Conclusions

Our findings are consistent with other studies showing breast cancer risk associated with birth weight for pre- but not post-menopausal breast cancer. As we found in an earlier study, having been breastfed was associated with decreased risk. These findings add to the accumulating evidence that early life events impact women’s subsequent breast cancer risk.

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Acknowledgements

Supported in part by U.S. Army Grant (DAMD 170010417 and NCI RO1CA92040 and the American Italian Cancer Foundation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Maddalena Barba, Jing Nie, Domenica Vito, Saverio Stranges, Barbara Fuhrman, Maurizio Trevisan, Paola Muti & Jo L. Freudenheim

  2. Departments of Endocrinology and Oncology, Federico II University of Naples Medical School, Naples, Italy

    Maddalena Barba

  3. Department of Epidemiology, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA

    Susan E. McCann

  4. Department of Preventive Medical Sciences, Federico II University of Naples Medical School, Naples, Italy

    Saverio Stranges

  5. Department of Cancer Epidemiology, IFO-Italian National Cancer Institute Regina Elena, Rome, Italy

    Paola Muti

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  1. Maddalena Barba
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  2. Susan E. McCann
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  3. Jing Nie
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  4. Domenica Vito
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  9. Jo L. Freudenheim
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Correspondence to Maddalena Barba.

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Barba, M., McCann, S.E., Nie, J. et al. Perinatal Exposures and Breast Cancer Risk in the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study. Cancer Causes Control 17, 395–401 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0481-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-005-0481-5

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