Environment and Breast Cancer: Science Review
About
Perinatal exposures and breast cancer risk in the Western New York Exposures and Breast Cancer (WEB) Study
Barba, M., McCann, S. E., Nie, J., Vito, D., Stranges, S., Fuhrman, B., Trevisan, M., Muti, P., Freudenheim, J. L. Cancer Causes Control. 2006. 17:4, 395-401.
Topic area
Early life exposures
Early life exposures
Study design
Population-based case-control
Population-based case-control
Funding agency
Other: U.S. Army Grant and the American Italian Ca
Other: U.S. Army Grant and the American Italian Ca
Study Participants
Number of Cases
1166
1166
Number of Controls
Controls: 2105
Controls: 2105
Participant selection: Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Criteria used to select participants in the study.
Case Inclusion: Incidence primary, historically confirmed breast cancer in women age 35-80 years in Erie and Niagara counties between 1996 and 2001.
Control Inclusion: frequency-matched by age, race, and county of residence to cases.
Ex: Women who were not able to provide information about birth weight.
Comment about participation selection
Controls with age<65 and age>=65 were selected from different sources
Controls with age<65 and age>=65 were selected from different sources
Exposure Investigated
Exposures investigated
Birth weight, maternal age
Birth weight, maternal age
How exposure was measured
Other: In-person computer-assisted interview
Other: In-person computer-assisted interview
Exposure assessment comment
Perinatal characteristics were self-reported
Perinatal characteristics were self-reported
Statistical Analysis
Breast cancer outcome investigated
Primary incident breast cancer
Primary incident 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, education, race, BMI, history of benign breast disease, family history of breast cancer, lactation, age at menarche, age at first full term pregnancy, menopause status, age at menopause, parity
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
Unconditional logistic regression adjusting for covariants were performed to estimate odds ratios and 95% CIs. All analyses were stratified by menopausal status. Stratified analyses were also performed by median height and joint estrogen receptor and prog
Unconditional logistic regression adjusting for covariants were performed to estimate odds ratios and 95% CIs. All analyses were stratified by menopausal status. Stratified analyses were also performed by median height and joint estrogen receptor and prog
Strength of associations reported
Premenopausal:
Birth weight: 1.84 (1.12 - 3.02)
Maternal age: 1.07 (0.59 - 1.95)
Postmenopausal:
Birth weight: 1.03 (0.74 - 1.44)
Maternal age: 0.87 (0.59 - 1.27)
Premenopausal:
Birth weight: 1.84 (1.12 - 3.02)
Maternal age: 1.07 (0.59 - 1.95)
Postmenopausal:
Birth weight: 1.03 (0.74 - 1.44)
Maternal age: 0.87 (0.59 - 1.27)
Results Comments
Birth weight was positively associated with higher risk of breast cancer. Maternal age was not related to breast cancer risk.
Birth weight was positively associated with higher risk of breast cancer. Maternal age was not related to breast cancer risk.
Author address
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA. barba@ifo.it
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Health Professions, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA. barba@ifo.it
Controls participation rate
Less than 70%
Less than 70%