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A prospective study of educational background and breast cancer among Japanese women

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Abstract

Objective

This prospective cohort study examined the association between educational level and breast cancer incidence in Japan.

Method

A baseline survey was conducted between 1988 and 1990 among 110,792 residents of 45 areas, aged 40–79 years. Data were restricted to 24 areas where incidence registry data were available, and to subjects which provided information on educational level (32,646). The subjects were assigned to three groups according to their level of education (<16, 16–18, 18<). During 13 years of follow-up (328,931 person-year), 169 cases of breast cancer were newly diagnosed.

Results

Women with a high level of education had an increased risk of breast cancer (HR = 1.93, 95 percent confidence interval (95% CI): 1.18, 3.16, in women with the highest educational level) compared with women with the lowest educational level. Adjustment for lifestyle and reproductive factors did not substantially change the results. In addition, when analyses were stratified by age subgroups, the educational difference in breast cancer incidence was more evident among the younger than the elder subgroup.

Conclusion

The present results suggested that cancer prevention strategies should recognize women with a higher educational level as a high risk group for breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

Grant sponsor: Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan; 61010076, 62010074, 63010074, 1010068, 2151065, 3151064, 4151063, 5151069, 6279102, 11181101, 12218237.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, 1-1, Iseigaoka, Yahatanishiku, Kitakyushu, 807-8555, Japan

    Yoshihisa Fujino

  2. Department of Public Health, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan

    Mitsuru Mori & Fumio Sakauchi

  3. Department of Public Health, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Aichi, Japan

    Akiko Tamakoshi

  4. Department of Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan

    Sadao Suzuki & Shinkan Tokudome

  5. Department of Preventive Medicine/Biostatistics and Medical Decision Making, Field of Social Life Science, Program in Health and Community Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

    Kenji Wakai

  6. Fukuoka Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences, Dazaifu-Shi, Fukuoka, Japan

    Takesumi Yoshimura

Authors
  1. Yoshihisa Fujino
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  2. Mitsuru Mori
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  3. Akiko Tamakoshi
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  4. Fumio Sakauchi
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  5. Sadao Suzuki
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  6. Kenji Wakai
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  7. Shinkan Tokudome
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  8. Takesumi Yoshimura
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Consortia

for the JACC Study Group

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yoshihisa Fujino.

Additional information

Authors’ contributions

All the authors contributed to the study design, collecting data, analyzing data, and drafting the manuscript.

Japan Collaborative Cohort Study Group

The present investigators involved in the JACC study and their affiliations are as follows: Dr. Yoshiyuki Ohno, (the present chairman of the Monbusho ECC), Dr. Akiko Tamakoshi (Secretary General of the Monbusho ECC), and Dr. Hideaki Toyoshima, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine; Dr. Mitsuru Mori, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine; Dr. Yutaka Motohashi, Akita University School of Medicine; Dr. Shigeru Hisamichi, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine; Dr. Yosikazu Nakamura, Jichi Medical School; Dr. Takashi Shimamoto, Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tsukuba; Dr. Haruo Mikami, Chiba Cancer Center; Dr. Shuji Hashimoto, School of Health Sciences and Nursing, University of Tokyo; Dr. Yutaka Inaba, Juntendo University School of Medicine; Dr. Heizo Tanaka, Medical Research Institute, Tokyo Medical and Dental University; Dr. Yoshiharu Hoshiyama, Showa University School of Medicine; Dr. Hiroshi Suzuki, Niigata University School of Medicine; Dr. Hiroyuki Shimizu, Gifu University School of Medicine; Dr. Shinkan Tokudome, Nagoya City University Medical School; Dr. Yoshinori Ito, Fujita Health University School of Health Sciences; Dr. Akio Koizumi, Graduate School of Medicine and Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University; Dr. Takashi Kawamura, Kyoto University Center for Student Health; Dr. Yoshiyuki Watanabe, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Research Institute for Neurological Diseases & Geriatrics; Dr. Masahiro Nakao, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine; Dr. Takaichiro Suzuki, Research Institute, Osaka Medical Center for Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases; Dr. Tsutomu Hashimoto, Wakayama Medical University; Dr. Takayuki Nose, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine; Dr. Norihiko Hayakawa, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University; Dr. Takesumi Yoshimura, Institute of Industrial Ecological Sciences, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Japan; Dr. Katsuhiro Fukuda, Kurume University School of Medicine; Dr. Tomoyuki Kitagawa, Cancer Institute of Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research; Dr. Toshio Kuroki, Institute of Molecular Oncology, Showa University; Dr. Naoyuki Okamoto, Kanagawa Cancer Center; Dr. Teruo Ishibashi, Asama General Hospital; Dr. Hideo Shio, Shiga Medical Center and Dr. Kazuo Tajima, Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute.

The former investigators involved in the JACC study and their affiliations are as follows: Dr. Kunio Aoki, Aichi Cancer Center; Dr. Suketami Tominaga, Aichi Cancer Center Research Institute; Dr. Sadamu Anzai, Dr. Takeshi Kawaguchi, Dr. Kenichi Nakamura, and Dr. Motofumi Masaki, Showa University School of Medicine; Dr. Shuugo Kanamori, Dr. Masachika Morimoto, and Dr. Seishi Yoshimura, Shiga Medical Center for Adults; Dr. Sigetosi Kamiyama, Dr. Yukio Takizawa, and Dr. Noriyuki Hachiya, Akita University School of Medicine; Dr. Keiichi Kawai, Dr. Shuichi Nakagawa, and Dr. Hiroki Watanabe, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine; Dr. Minoru Kurihara, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University; Dr. Yoshio Komachi, Institute of Community Medicine, University of Tsukuba; Dr. Ruichiro Sasaki, Aichi Medical University; Dr. Minoru Sugita, Toho University School of Medicine; Dr. Iwao Sugimura, Asahikawa Kosei Hospital; Dr. Toshihiko Tanaka, Chigasaki Public Health Center; Dr. Tomio Hirohata, Kyushu University School of Medicine; Dr. Isaburo Fujimoto, Center for Adult Diseases, Osaka; Dr. Minoru Matsuzaki, Chigasaki Public Health and Welfare Center; Dr. Hirotsugu Miyake, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine; Dr. Motoi Murata, Chiba Cancer Center; Dr. Shinsuke Morio, Kanagawa Cancer Center; Dr. Hiroshi Yanagawa, Jichi Medical School, and Dr. Shaw Watanabe, Tokyo University of Agriculture.

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Fujino, Y., Mori, M., Tamakoshi, A. et al. A prospective study of educational background and breast cancer among Japanese women. Cancer Causes Control 19, 931–937 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9154-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-008-9154-5

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