Environment and Breast Cancer: Science Review

Risk of female breast cancer associated with serum polychlorinated biphenyls and 1,1-dichloro-2,2'-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene
Zheng, T., Holford, T. R., Mayne, S. T., Tessari, J., Ward, B., Carter, D., Owens, P. H., Boyle, P., Dubrow, R., Archibeque-Engle, S., Dawood, O., Zahm, S. H. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. 2000. 9:2, 167-74.

Topic area
Environmental pollutant - Pesticides, organochlorine, PCB, DDE, DDT
Environmental pollutant - Pesticides, organochlorine, PCB, DDE, DDT
Study design
Hospital based case-control
Hospital based case-control

Study Participants
Number of Cases
475
475
Menopausal Status
Post menopausal
The menopausal status of women included in this study is listed here.
Pre menopausalPost menopausal
Number of Controls
Controls: 502
Controls: 502
Participant selection: Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Criteria used to select participants in the study.
Cases were recruited from Yale-New Haven hospital.
347 controls were randomly selected from among the women who had breast-related surgery and were diagnosed with benign breast diseases. Population-based cases and controls were recruited from a nearby county (controls from random digit dialing, or from Health Care Finance Administration files).
Exposures investigated
Lipid-adjusted serum PCB concentrations.
Lipid-adjusted serum PCB concentrations.
How exposure was measured
Biological
Biological
Breast cancer outcome investigated
Primary breast cancer
Primary breast cancer
Ethnic groups with separate analysis
If this study provided a separate analysis by ethnic or racial group, the groups are listed here.
No
Confounders considered
Other breast cancer risk factors, such as family history, age at first birth, and hormone replacement therapy use, that were taken into account in the study.
Age, BMI, age at menarche, duration of lactation, age at first birth, number of children, dietary fat intake, family history of breast cancer, race, and study site.
Genetic characterization included
If the study analyzed relationships between environmental factors and inherited genetic variations, this field will be marked “Yes.” “No”, if not.
No
Description of major analysis
Multiple logistic regression.
Multiple logistic regression.
Strength of associations reported
No increased risk was seen for DDE, either overall, or among parous women who ever breastfed, parous women who never breast fed, or nulliparous women.
PCB congeners according to the classification proposed by Wolff.
Risks were not statistically significantly elevated for any group.
No increased risk was seen for DDE, either overall, or among parous women who ever breastfed, parous women who never breast fed, or nulliparous women.
PCB congeners according to the classification proposed by Wolff.
Risks were not statistically significantly elevated for any group.

Author address
Yale University School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. tongzhang.zheng@yale.edu
Yale University School of Medicine and Yale Cancer Center, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. tongzhang.zheng@yale.edu
Controls participation rate
71% for YNHH cases, 61% for population controls.
71% for YNHH cases, 61% for population controls.