Risk Factors for Breast Cancer: A Reanalysis of Two Case-control Studies From 1926 and 1931

Background: The first major case-control study, published by Janet Lane-Claypon in 1926, provided the first epidemiologic evidence that low fertility increases breast cancer risk. This study in the United Kingdom was replicated in 1931 by JM Wainwright using a US sample. Neither study used modern st...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epidemiology (Cambridge, Mass.) Mass.), 2010-07, Vol.21 (4), p.566-572
Main Authors: Press, David J., Pharoah, Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age
Age distribution
Age Factors
Aged
Biological and medical sciences
Breast cancer
Breast Neoplasms - etiology
Case-Control Studies
Children
Confidence Intervals
Data Interpretation, Statistical
Epidemiology
Female
Gender equality
General aspects
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
HISTORY
History, 20th Century
Humans
Lactation
Mammary gland diseases
Marriage
Medical sciences
Menarche
Menopause
Middle Aged
Miscellaneous
Odds Ratio
Parity
Predisposing factors
Pregnancy
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Reproducibility of Results
Risk Factors
Time Factors
Tumors
United Kingdom
United States
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Summary:Background: The first major case-control study, published by Janet Lane-Claypon in 1926, provided the first epidemiologic evidence that low fertility increases breast cancer risk. This study in the United Kingdom was replicated in 1931 by JM Wainwright using a US sample. Neither study used modern statistical inference to interpret their data. We have evaluated and reanalyzed data from both studies to assess the validity of the original conclusions about the etiology of breast cancer. Methods: We abstracted data from the published contingency tables for age at menarche, age at menopause, parity, age at marriage (as a proxy for age at first birth), and duration of lactation for each childbirth (as a proxy for lifetime duration of lactation). Study-specific odds ratios and associated 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Results: Findings from the quantitative reanalysis were consistent with contemporary epidemiologic evidence for age at menopause, parity, age at first birth, and duration of lactation. Conclusions: Lane-Claypon's scientific efforts, as manifested in the 1926 UK study, are an excellent example of how one investigator's work can help develop a field of scientific inquiry.
ISSN:1044-3983
1531-5487
DOI:10.1097/EDE.0b013e3181e08eb3