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Lifetime tobacco smoke exposure and breast cancer incidence

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Abstract

Purpose

We analyzed data from a case–control study to assess the association between lifetime tobacco smoke exposure and breast cancer incidence.

Methods

Incident breast cancer cases were identified in the Massachusetts Cancer Registry and population controls were sampled from state Medicare lists and driver’s license rosters. Demographic, lifestyle, medical history, reproductive history, and passive and active smoking exposure variables were assessed by telephone interview. We defined passive and active tobacco smoke exposure categories reflective of lifetime exposure patterns, and compared breast cancer risk among these groups while adjusting for age, body mass index, menopausal status, parity, alcohol consumption, and family history of breast cancer. We also adjusted passive smoking associations for active smoking status and vice versa.

Results

We observed no association between ever being passively exposed to tobacco smoke and risk of incident breast cancer (adjusted OR: 1.2; 95% CI: 0.8, 1.8) nor between active smoking and breast cancer (adjusted OR for >23 pack-years compared to nonsmokers: 0.9; 95% CI: 0.7, 1.3). Null effects persisted in finer categorizations of active and passive exposure.

Conclusions

We observed no causal associations between active or passive tobacco smoke exposures and incident breast cancer, consistent with results from most prospective cohort studies.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body mass index

CI:

Confidence interval

ETS:

Environmental tobacco smoke

MCR:

Massachusetts Cancer Registry

OR:

Odds ratio

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Polly Newcomb, Ph.D., Linda Titus-Ernstoff, Ph.D., and Meir Stampfer, M.D., DrPH for their contributions to the larger case–control study in which this work was nested. We are particularly grateful to Gabriella Anic for her data management expertise.

Funding source

Mr. Ahern’s writing and analysis efforts on this study were supported by a CDMRP Predoctoral Traineeship Award (BC073012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street T3E, Boston, MA, 02118, USA

    Thomas P. Ahern & Timothy L. Lash

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Genetics, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA

    Kathleen M. Egan

  3. Departments of Medicine and Community and Family Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH, USA

    John A. Baron

Authors
  1. Thomas P. Ahern
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  2. Timothy L. Lash
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  3. Kathleen M. Egan
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  4. John A. Baron
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Correspondence to Thomas P. Ahern.

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Ahern, T.P., Lash, T.L., Egan, K.M. et al. Lifetime tobacco smoke exposure and breast cancer incidence. Cancer Causes Control 20, 1837–1844 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9376-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9376-1

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