Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Life in urban areas and breast cancer risk in the French E3N cohort

  • CANCER
  • Published:
European Journal of Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

It has been suggested that women living in urban areas are at higher risk of breast cancer (BC) compared to women living in rural areas. However, most published studies on this topic are ecological and did not adjust for individual BC risk factors. We investigated this hypothesis in a French prospective cohort. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to evaluate the association between birth or residence in an urban area and BC risk among 75,889 women of the French E3N cohort (aged 38–66 years at recruitment in 1990) before and after adjustment for known BC risk factors and stratifying on birth cohort. From 1990 to 2008, a total of 5,145 BC cases were diagnosed. Being born in an urban area was associated with BC risk before (HR 1.11, 95% CI 1.05–1.18) and after (HR 1.07, 95% CI 1.01–1.14) adjustment for known BC risk factors. Living in an urban area in 1990 was not associated with BC risk. Being born in an urban area is associated with a weak increase in BC risk. This may be suggestive of higher exposure to air pollution and to other environmental exposures, to be investigated in future studies.

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

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ferlay J, Shin HR, Bray F, Forman D, Mathers C, Parkin DM. Estimates of worldwide burden of cancer in 2008: GLOBOCAN 2008. Int J Cancer. 2010;127:2893–917. doi:10.1002/ijc.25516.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Jemal A, Bray F, Center MM, Ferlay J, Ward E, Forman D. Global cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin. 2011;61:69–90. doi:10.3322/caac.20107.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative, Health Canada (2001) review of lifestyle and environmental risk factors for breast cancer—summary report.

  4. Julien P (1998) L’urbanisation se poursuit dans les années 90. INSEE PREMIERE 603.

  5. Rougereau A, Pottier D, Robillard J, Mace-Lesech J, Henry-Amar M, Launoy G (1993) Incidence du cancer colo-rectal et du cancer du sein dans le département du Calvados. 24/1993.

  6. Minelli L, Stracci F, Cassetti T, Canosa A, Scheibel M, Sapia IE, Romagnoli C, La RF. Urban-rural differences in gynaecological cancer occurrence in a central region of Italy: 1978–1982 and 1998–2002. Eur J Gynaecol Oncol. 2007;28:468–72.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Krzyzak M, Maslach D, Juczewska M, Lasota W, Rabczenko D, Marcinkowski J, Szpak A. Differences in breast cancer incidence and stage distribution between urban and rural female population in Podlaskie Voivodship, Poland in years 2001–2002. Ann Agric Environ Med. 2010;17:159–62.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Dey S, Soliman AS, Hablas A, Seifeldein IA, Ismail K, Ramadan M, El-Hamzawy H, Wilson ML, Banerjee M, Boffetta P, Harford J, Merajver SD. Urban-rural differences in breast cancer incidence in Egypt (1999–2006). Breast. 2010;19:417–23. doi:10.1016/j.breast.2010.04.005.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Robert SA, Strombom I, Trentham-Dietz A, Hampton JM, McElroy JA, Newcomb PA, Remington PL. Socioeconomic risk factors for breast cancer: distinguishing individual-and community-level effects. Epidemiology. 2004;15:442–50.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Wilkinson D, Cameron K. Cancer and cancer risk in South Australia: what evidence for a rural-urban health differential? Aust J Rural Health. 2004;12:61–6. doi:10.1111/j.1038-5282.2004.00555.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Clavel-Chapelon F, van Liere MJ, Giubout C, Niravong MY, Goulard H, Le CC, Hoang LA, Amoyel J, Auquier A, Duquesnel E. E3N, a French cohort study on cancer risk factors. E3N group. etude epidemiologique aupres de femmes de l’Education Nationale. Eur J Cancer Prev. 1997;6:473–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE). Définition de l'unité urbaine. http://www.insee.fr/fr/methodes/default.asp?page=definitions/unite-urbaine.htm (consulté le 12.08.2014).

  13. Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques (INSEE). Urban unit definition. http://www.insee.fr/en/methodes/default.asp?page=definitions/unite-urbaine.htm (retrieved: August, 12, 2014).

  14. Houillon V, Thomsin L (2001) Définitions du rural et de l’urbain dans quelques pays européens. Espaces, Population, Société 2001-1-2.

  15. United Nations Statistics Division. Demographic and Social Statistics, population density and urbanization. http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/sconcerns/densurb/densurbmethods.htm. (retrieved: August, 12, 2014).

  16. Newman LA, Martin IK. Disparities in breast cancer. Curr Probl Cancer. 2007;31:134–56. doi:10.1016/j.currproblcancer.2007.01.003.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Cui Y, Miller AB, Rohan TE. Cigarette smoking and breast cancer risk: update of a prospective cohort study. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2006;100:293–9. doi:10.1007/s10549-006-9255-3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Scoccianti C, Straif K, Romieu I. Recent evidence on alcohol and cancer epidemiology. Future Oncol. 2013;9:1315–22. doi:10.2217/fon.13.94.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Adami HO, Hunter D, Trichopoulos D (2008) Textbook of cancer epidemiology, Second Edition. Oxford University Press.

  20. Wang CN, Liang Z, Wei P, Liu P, Yu JX, Zhang DM, Ma FL. Changes in dietary patterns and certain nutrition-related diseases in urban and rural residents of Jiangsu Province, China, during the 1990s. Biomed Environ Sci. 2002;15:271–6.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. World Cancer Research Fund, American Institute for Cancer Research. Food, nutrition, physical activity, and the prevention of cancer: a global perspective. Washington, DC: AICR, 2007.

  22. Cottet V, Touvier M, Fournier A, Touillaud MS, Lafay L, Clavel-Chapelon F, Boutron-Ruault MC. Postmenopausal breast cancer risk and dietary patterns in the E3N-EPIC prospective cohort study. Am J Epidemiol. 2009;170:1257–67. doi:10.1093/aje/kwp257.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Choi EY. 25(OH)D status and demographic and lifestyle determinants of 25(OH)D among Korean adults. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2012;21:526–35.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Engel P, Fagherazzi G, Mesrine S, Boutron-Ruault MC, Clavel-Chapelon F. Joint effects of dietary vitamin D and sun exposure on breast cancer risk: results from the French E3N cohort. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2011;20:187–98. doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-10-1039.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Shao T, Klein P, Grossbard ML. Vitamin D and breast cancer. Oncologist. 2012;17:36–45. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.2011-0278.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Pumain D, Riandey B (1986) Le Fichier de l’Ined: “urbanisation de la France”. Espace, populations, sociétés.

  27. Fanouillet J-C, Madinier C (1996) L’extension des villes de 1936 à 1990. INSEE PREMIERE 451.

  28. Francis R, Chadwick M. Urban ecosystem: understanding the human environment. Routledge; 2013.

  29. Hall SA, Kaufman JS, Ricketts TC. Defining urban and rural areas in U.S. epidemiologic studies. J Urban Health. 2006;83:162–75. doi:10.1007/s11524-005-9016-3.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  30. Morel M-F (2010) Naître en France du XVII au XXème siècles. contact Santé.

  31. Morel M-F (2007) Histoire de la naissance en France (XVIIe-XXe siècle). ADSP.

  32. United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2001 U.S. toxics release inventory public data release. Washington, DC; 2003.

  33. Pope CA III, Ezzati M, Dockery DW. Fine-particulate air pollution and life expectancy in the United States. N Engl J Med. 2009;360:376–86. doi:10.1056/NEJMsa0805646.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  34. Correia AW, Pope CA III, Dockery DW, Wang Y, Ezzati M, Dominici F. Effect of air pollution control on life expectancy in the United States: an analysis of 545 U.S. counties for the period from 2000 to 2007. Epidemiology. 2013;24:23–31. doi:10.1097/EDE.0b013e3182770237.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  35. Crouse DL, Goldberg MS, Ross NA, Chen H, Labreche F. Postmenopausal breast cancer is associated with exposure to traffic-related air pollution in Montreal, Canada: a case-control study. Environ Health Perspect. 2010;118:1578–83. doi:10.1289/ehp.1002221.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  36. Cesaroni G, Badaloni C, Gariazzo C, Stafoggia M, Sozzi R, Davoli M, Forastiere F. Long-term exposure to urban air pollution and mortality in a cohort of more than a million adults in Rome. Environ Health Perspect. 2013;121:324–31. doi:10.1289/ehp.1205862.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  37. Loomis D, Grosse Y, Lauby-Secretan B, El GF, Bouvard V, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, Guha N, Baan R, Mattock H, Straif K, On behalf of the International Agency for Research on Cancer Monograph Working Group IARC. The carcinogenicity of outdoor air pollution. Lancet Oncol. 2013;14:1262–3.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  38. Nyberg F, Gustavsson P, Jarup L, Bellander T, Berglind N, Jakobsson R, Pershagen G. Urban air pollution and lung cancer in Stockholm. Epidemiology. 2000;11:487–95.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  39. Chen F, Bina WF. Correlation of white female breast cancer incidence trends with nitrogen dioxide emission levels and motor vehicle density patterns. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2012;132:327–33. doi:10.1007/s10549-011-1861-z.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  40. Wei Y, Davis J, Bina WF. Ambient air pollution is associated with the increased incidence of breast cancer in US. Int J Environ Health Res. 2012;22:12–21. doi:10.1080/09603123.2011.588321.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  41. Bonner MR, Han D, Nie J, Rogerson P, Vena JE, Muti P, Trevisan M, Edge SB, Freudenheim JL. Breast cancer risk and exposure in early life to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons using total suspended particulates as a proxy measure. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2005;14:53–60.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  42. Nie J, Beyea J, Bonner MR, Han D, Vena JE, Rogerson P, Vito D, Muti P, Trevisan M, Edge SB, Freudenheim JL. Exposure to traffic emissions throughout life and risk of breast cancer: the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) study. Cancer Causes Control. 2007;18:947–55. doi:10.1007/s10552-007-9036-2.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  43. Lauby-Secretan B, Loomis D, Grosse Y, El GF, Bouvard V, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, Guha N, Baan R, Mattock H, Straif K. Carcinogenicity of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated biphenyls. Lancet Oncol. 2013;14:287–8. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(13)70104-9.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. Brody JG, Moysich KB, Humblet O, Attfield KR, Beehler GP, Rudel RA. Environmental pollutants and breast cancer: epidemiologic studies. Cancer. 2007;109:2667–711. doi:10.1002/cncr.22655.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  45. Warner M, Eskenazi B, Mocarelli P, Gerthoux PM, Samuels S, Needham L, Patterson D, Brambilla P. Serum dioxin concentrations and breast cancer risk in the Seveso women’s health study. Environ Health Perspect. 2002;110:625–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  46. Potischman N, Troisi R. In-utero and early life exposures in relation to risk of breast cancer. Cancer Causes Control. 1999;10:561–73.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  47. Russo J, Russo IH. Molecular Basis of Breast Cancer: prevention and treatment. New York, Springer; 2004.

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank all participants for providing the data used in this study and practitioners for providing pathology reports. We are grateful to Alice Vilier and Anne Bijon for managing the data. We thank Pr Denise Pumain (Université Paris I), Liliane Lizzi (Unité Mixte de Recherche Géographie-Cités, Paris, France), Anne Bretagnolle (Unité Mixte de Recherche Géographie-Cités, Paris, France), and Benoît Riandey (Institut National d’Etudes Démographiques, France) who kindly provided geographical data.

Conflict of interest

None.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité Cancer et Environnement, Centre Léon Bérard, 28 rue Laënnec, 69373, Lyon cedex 08, France

    Blandine Binachon, Laure Dossus, Aurélie M. N. Danjou & Beatrice Fervers

  2. Inserm, Centre for research in Epidemiology and Population Health (CESP), U1018, Nutrition, Hormones and Women’s Health Team, 94805, Villejuif, France

    Laure Dossus & Francoise Clavel-Chapelon

  3. Université Paris Sud, UMRS 1018, 94805, Villejuif, France

    Laure Dossus & Francoise Clavel-Chapelon

  4. Laboratoire Santé, Individu, Société, Université de Lyon, Lyon, France

    Aurélie M. N. Danjou & Beatrice Fervers

  5. IGR, 94805, Villejuif, France

    Francoise Clavel-Chapelon

Authors
  1. Blandine Binachon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Laure Dossus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Aurélie M. N. Danjou
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Francoise Clavel-Chapelon
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Beatrice Fervers
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Beatrice Fervers.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Binachon, B., Dossus, L., Danjou, A.M.N. et al. Life in urban areas and breast cancer risk in the French E3N cohort. Eur J Epidemiol 29, 743–751 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-014-9942-z

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10654-014-9942-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation