Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Reproductive factors, exogenous female hormone use and breast cancer risk in Japanese: the Miyagi Cohort Study

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Cancer Causes & Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The incidence of breast cancer among Japanese women is substantially increasing. This population-based prospective cohort study in Japan evaluated the associations of reproductive factors and exogenous female hormone use with breast cancer risk, both overall and separately among premenopausal and postmenopausal women. A total of 24,064 women aged 40–64 were followed from 1990 to 2003. During 309,424 person-years of follow-up, 285 breast cancer cases were documented. In overall evaluation, nulliparity was significantly associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. There was a significant decrease in risk with increasing parity number among parous women (trend P = 0.008). No association was observed between age at menarche or age at first birth and breast cancer risk. Neither oral contraceptive (OC) use nor the use of exogenous female hormones other than OC was associated with breast cancer risk. The evaluation according to menopausal status revealed that nulliparity and parity number were significantly related to breast cancer risk only among postmenopausal women. Later age at natural menopause was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women (trend P = 0.02). Our findings suggest that parity number and age at menopause have great effects on breast cancer risk among Japanese women.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

OC:

Oral contraceptive

HRT:

Hormone replacement therapy

HR:

Hazard ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

References

  1. Curado MP, Edwards B, Shin HR et al (eds) (2007) Cancer Incidence in Five Continents, vol IX. IARC Scientific Publications No. 160, Lyon

    Google Scholar 

  2. Matsuda T, Marugame T, Kamo K, Katanoda K, Ajiki W, Sobue T (2008) Cancer incidence and incidence rates in Japan in 2002: based on data from 11 population-based cancer registries. Jpn J Clin Oncol 38:641–648

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Minami Y, Tsubono Y, Nishino Y, Ohuchi N, Shibuya D, Hisamichi S (2004) The increase of female breast cancer incidence in Japan: emergence of birth cohort effect. Int J Cancer 108:901–906

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. MacMahon B, Cole P, Lin TM et al (1970) Age at first birth and breast cancer risk. Bull World Health Organ 43:209–221

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Kelsey JL, Gammon MD, John EM (1993) Reproductive factors and breast cancer. Epidemiol Rev 15:36–47

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Lambe M, Hsieh CC, Trichopoulos D, Ekbom A, Pavia M, Adami HO (1994) Transient increase in the risk of breast cancer after giving birth. N Engl J Med 331:5–9

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Chie WC, Hsieh CC, Newcomb PA et al (2000) Age at any full-term pregnancy and breast cancer risk. Am J Epidemiol 151:715–722

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Nagata C, Hu YH, Shimizu H (1995) Effects of menstrual and reproductive factors on the risk of breast cancer: meta-analysis of the case–control studies in Japan. Jpn J Cancer Res 86:910–915

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Statistics and Information Department, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2006) Live births: special report of vital statistics in fy 2005. Health and Welfare Statistics Association, Tokyo (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Statistics and Information Department, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (2007) Marriage statistics: special report of vital statistics in fy 2006. Health and Welfare Statistics Association, Tokyo (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Ministry of Health, Labour, Welfare (2006) The national health and nutrition survey in Japan, 2003. Daiichi-Shuppan, Tokyo (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  12. IARC Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans (2007) Combined estrogen-progestogen contraceptives and combined estrogen-progestogen menopausal therapy. IARC Monogr Eval Carcinog Risks Hum vol 91, Lyon

  13. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer (1996) Breast cancer and hormonal contraceptives: collaborative reanalysis of individual data on 53 297 women with breast cancer and 100 239 women without breast cancer from 54 epidemiological studies. Lancet 347:1713–1727

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer (1997) Breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy: collaborative reanalysis of data from 51 epidemiological studies of 52, 705 women with breast cancer and 108, 411 women without breast cancer. Lancet 350:1047–1059

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Rossouw JE, Anderson GL, Prentice RL et al (2002) Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: principal results From the Women’s Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA 288:321–333

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Hirose K, Tajima K, Hamajima N et al (1995) A large -scale hospital-based case–control study of risk factors of breast cancer according to menopausal status. Jpn J Cancer Res 86:146–154

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Minami Y, Ohuchi N, Fukao A, Hisamichi S (1997) Risk factors for breast cancer: a case–control study of screen-detected breast cancer in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Breast Cancer Res Treat 44:225–233

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Clavel-Chapelon F, the E3 N-EPIC Group (2002) Differential effects of reproductive factors on the risk of pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer. Results from a large cohort of French women. Br J Cancer 86:723–727

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Iwasaki M, Otani T, Inoue M, Sasazuki S, Tsugane S (2007) Role and impact of menstrual and reproductive factors on breast cancer risk in Japan. Eur J Cancer Prev 16:116–123

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Fukao A, Tsubono Y, Komatsu S et al (1995) A cohort study on the relation of lifestyle, personality and biologic markers to cancer in Miyagi, Japan: study design, response rate and profiles of the cohort subjects. J Epidemiol 5:153–157

    Google Scholar 

  21. Naganuma T, Kuriyama S, Kakizaki M et al (2008) Coffee consumption and the risk of oral, pharyngeal, and esophageal cancers in Japan: the Miyagi Cohort Study. Am J Epidemiol 168:1425–1432

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Doll R, Payne P, Waterhouse JAH (1966) Cancer incidence in five continents: a technical report. Vol 3: IARC scientific publications. International Union against Cancer, Genève, pp 118–123

    Google Scholar 

  23. Cox DR (1972) Regression models and life-tables (with discussion). J Roy Statist Soc 34:187–220

    Google Scholar 

  24. Gao YT, Shu XO, Dai Q et al (2000) Association of menstrual and reproductive factors with breast cancer risk: results from the Shanghai Breast Cancer Study. Int J Cancer 87:295–300

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Pharoah PDP, Day NE, Duffy S, Easton DF, Ponder BAJ (1997) Family history and the risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cancer 71:800–809

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Tamakoshi K, Yatsuya H, Wakai K et al (2005) Impact of menstrual and reproductive factors on breast cancer risk in Japan: results of the JACC study. Cancer Sci 96:57–62

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Health and Welfare Department Miyagi Prefecture (1993) Miyagi Prefecture. Report on special investigation for cancer prevention. Miyagi Cancer Society, Sendai (in Japanese)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Adami HO, Bergström R, Lund E, Meirik O (1990) Absence of association between reproductive variables and the risk of breast cancer in young women in Sweden and Norway. Br J Cancer 62:122–126

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Pathak DR, Speizer FE, Willett WC, Rosner B, Lipnick RJ (1986) Parity and breast cancer risk: possible effect on age at diagnosis. Int J Cancer 37:21–25

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Rosner B, Colditz GA, Willett WC (1994) Reproductive risk factors in a prospective study of breast cancer: the Nurses’ Health Study. Am J Epidemiol 139:819–835

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer (2001) Familial breast cancer: collaborative reanalysis of individual data from 52 epidemiological studies including 58 209 women with breast cancer and 101 986 women without the disease. Lancet 358:1389–1399

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Pike MC, Krailo MD, Henderson BE, Casagrande JT, Hoel DG (1983) ‘Hormonal’ risk factors, ‘breast tissue age’ and the age-incidence of breast cancer. Nature 303:767–770

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  33. Antoniou AC, Easton DF (2006) Models of genetic susceptibility to breast cancer. Oncogene 25:5898–5905

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Bernstein L, Ross RK (1993) Endogenous hormones and breast cancer risk. Epidemiol Rev 15:48–65

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Chubak J, Tworoger SS, Yasui Y, Ulrich CM, Stanczyk FZ, McTiernan A (2004) Associations between reproductive and menstrual factors and postmenopausal sex hormone concentrations. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 13:1296–1301

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  36. Hankinson SE, Colditz GA, Hunter DJ et al (1995) Reproductive factors and family history of breast cancer in relation to plasma estrogen and prolactin levels in postmenopausal women in the nurses’ health study (United States). Cancer Causes Control 6:217–224

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  37. Dorgan JF, Reichman ME, Judd JT et al (1995) Relationships of age and reproductive characteristics with plasma estrogens and androgens in premenopausal women. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 4:381–386

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  38. Eliassen AH, Tworoger SS, Hankinson SE (2007) Reproductive factors and family history of breast cancer in relation to plasma prolactin levels in premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Int J Cancer 120:1536–1541

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  39. Goodman MT, Cologne JB, Moriwaki H, Vaeth M, Mabuchi K (1997) Risk factors for primary breast cancer in Japan: 8-year follow-up of atomic bomb survivors. Prev Med 26:144–153

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Nagata C, Matsushita Y, Inaba S, Kawakami N, Shimizu H (1997) Unapproved use of high-dose combined pills in Japan: a community study on prevalence and health characteristics of the users. Prev Med 26:565–569

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Romieu I, Willett WC, Colditz GA et al (1989) Prospective study of oral contraceptive use and risk of breast cancer in women. J Natl Cancer Inst 81:1313–1321

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  42. Kahlenborn C, Modugno F, Potter DM, Severs WB (2006) Oral contraceptive use as a risk factor for premenopausal breast cancer: a meta-analysis. Mayo Clin Proc 81:1290–1302

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Shantakumar S, Terry MB, Paykin A et al (2007) Age and menopausal effects of hormonal birth control and hormone replacement therapy in relation to breast cancer risk. Am J Epidemiol 165:1187–1198

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  44. Nelson HD, Humphrey LL, Nygren P, Teutsch SM, Allan JD (2002) Postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy: scientific review. JAMA 288:872–881

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a grant for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan (grant number: H20-Kiban C-20590630) and in part by the 3rd Term Comprehensive Control Research for Cancer (grant number: H18-Senryaku-001) from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. None of the authors declare any personal or financial conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Surgical Oncology, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8574, Japan

    Masaaki Kawai, Takanori Ishida & Noriaki Ohuchi

  2. Division of Community Health, Tohoku University School of Health Sciences, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan

    Yuko Minami

  3. Division of Epidemiology, Department of Public Health and Forensic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan

    Shinichi Kuriyama, Masako Kakizaki & Ichiro Tsuji

  4. Division of Surgery, Miyagi Cancer Center, 47-1, Nodayama, Medeshima-Shiode, Natori, Miyagi, 981-1293, Japan

    Yoichiro Kakugawa

  5. Division of Epidemiology, Miyagi Cancer Center Research Institute, 47-1, Nodayama, Medeshima-Shiode, Natori, Miyagi, 981-1293, Japan

    Yoshikazu Nishino

  6. Department of Public Health, Yamagata University School of Medicine, 2-2-2, Iida-nishi, Yamagata, 990-9585, Japan

    Akira Fukao

Authors
  1. Masaaki Kawai
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yuko Minami
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Shinichi Kuriyama
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Masako Kakizaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Yoichiro Kakugawa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Yoshikazu Nishino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Takanori Ishida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Akira Fukao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Ichiro Tsuji
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Noriaki Ohuchi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuko Minami.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Kawai, M., Minami, Y., Kuriyama, S. et al. Reproductive factors, exogenous female hormone use and breast cancer risk in Japanese: the Miyagi Cohort Study. Cancer Causes Control 21, 135–145 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9443-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9443-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation