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Body size, weight change, fat distribution and breast cancer risk in Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

An Erratum to this article was published on 22 May 2007

Abstract

Introduction

The incidence of breast cancer varies among women living in the Southwestern part of the US. We evaluate how body size influences breast cancer risk among these women.

Methods

Cases (n =  2,325) diagnosed with breast cancer between October 1, 1999 and May 2004 residing in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, or Utah were matched to controls (n = 2,525). Participants were interviewed; height, weight, waist, and hip circumference were measured at the time of interview; blood was drawn.

Results

A large body mass index (BMI) at age 15 was inversely associated with pre-menopausal breast cancer risk in both non-Hispanic white (NHW) and Hispanic women (Odds ratio, ORs 0.68 95% CI 0.44, 1.04, and 0.65 95% CI 0.39, 1.08, respectively); BMI at age 15 also had an impact on subsequent breast cancer associated with obesity after menopause. Among post-menopausal women, recent exposure to hormones was an important modifier of risk associated with body size. Among women not recently exposed to hormones risk associated with obesity was 1.61 (95% CI 1.05, 2.45) for NHW women; gaining ≥25 kg between 15 and age 50 was inversely associated with breast cancer among Hispanic women (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.23, 1.14). A large weight gain and a large waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) was associated with an increased odds of having an estrogen receptor negative tumor among NHW only (OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.07, 3.08, and 2.04 95% CI 1.20,3.50).

Conclusions

These findings suggest that the metabolic consequences of obesity on breast cancer risk differ between NHW and Hispanic women living in the Southwest.

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Abbreviations

BMI:

Body Mass Index

CAPS:

Cross Cultural Activity Participation Survey

CI:

Confidence interval

ER:

Estrogen receptor

HRT:

Hormone replacement therapy

NHW:

Non-Hispanic white

OR:

Odds ratio

PCR:

Polymerase chain reaction

PR:

Progesterone receptor

WHR:

Waist-to-hip ratio

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by grants: CA 078682, CA 078762, CA078552, and CA078802. This research also was supported by the Utah Cancer Registry, which is funded by Contract #N01-PC-67000 from the National Cancer Institute, with additional support from the State of Utah Department of Health, the New Mexico Tumor Registry, funded by contract # and the Arizona and Colorado cancer registries, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Program of Cancer Registries and additional state support. The contents of this manuscript are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the National Cancer Institute. We would like to acknowledge the contributions of Karen Curtin, Roger Edwards, Leslie Palmer. Betsy Riesendal, Tara Patton, Jason Witter, and Kelly May to this study.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Kathy Baumgartner & Richard Baumgartner

    Present address: University of Louisville, Louisville, KT, USA

  2. Anna Giuliano

    Present address: Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Research Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84117, USA

    Martha L. Slattery, Carol Sweeney, Sandra Edwards, Jennifer Herrick, Roger Wolff & Maureen Murtaugh

  2. Department of Internal Medicine and the Cancer Research and Treatment Center Epidemiology and Cancer Prevention Program, University of New Mexico Health Science Center, Albuquerque, New Mexico

    Kathy Baumgartner & Richard Baumgartner

  3. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Anna Giuliano

  4. University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CL, USA

    Tim Byers

Authors
  1. Martha L. Slattery
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  2. Carol Sweeney
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  3. Sandra Edwards
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martha L. Slattery.

Additional information

Author’s contributions: Drs Slattery, Baumgartner, Murtaugh, Baumgartner, Giuliano, and Byers and Ms. Edwards contributed to data collection efforts. Dr. Slattery provided oversight to the study; Ms. Edwards developed the study questionnaire and was instrumental in implementing study protocol. Dr. Wolff was responsible for genetic testing, Dr. Slattery, Dr. Sweeney, and Jennifer Herrick conducted data analyses. Dr. Slattery prepared the manuscript. All authors contributed to the final manuscript.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10549-007-9603-y

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Slattery, M.L., Sweeney, C., Edwards, S. et al. Body size, weight change, fat distribution and breast cancer risk in Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 102, 85–101 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-006-9292-y

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