Relative Weight, Weight Change, Height, and Breast Cancer Risk in Asian-American Women

Background: Breast cancer incidence rates have historically been four to seven times higher in the United States than in China or Japan, although the reasons remain elusive. When Chinese, Japanese, or Filipino women migrate to the United States, their breast cancer risk rises over several generation...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:JNCI : Journal of the National Cancer Institute 1996-05, Vol.88 (10), p.650-660
Main Authors: Ziegler, Regina G., Hoover, Robert N., Nomura, Abraham M. Y., West, Dee W., Wu, Anna H., Pike, Malcolm C., Lake, Andrew J., Horn-Ross, Pamela L., Kolonel, Laurence N., Siiteri, Pentti K., Fraumeni, Joseph F.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Asian Americans
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Biological and medical sciences
Body Height
Body Weight
Breast cancer
Breast Neoplasms - ethnology
Breast Neoplasms - etiology
California - epidemiology
Case-Control Studies
China - ethnology
Female
Gynecology. Andrology. Obstetrics
Hawaii - epidemiology
Health risk assessment
Height
Humans
Japan - ethnology
Mammary gland diseases
Medical research
Medical sciences
Middle Aged
Multivariate Analysis
Obesity - complications
Philippines - ethnology
Risk
Tumors
Weight
Weight Gain
Weight Loss
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Summary:Background: Breast cancer incidence rates have historically been four to seven times higher in the United States than in China or Japan, although the reasons remain elusive. When Chinese, Japanese, or Filipino women migrate to the United States, their breast cancer risk rises over several generations and reaches that for white women in the United States, indicating that modifiable exposures are involved. In a previous report on this case-control study of breast cancer in Asian-American women, designed to take advantage of their diversity in risk and lifestyle, we demonstrated a sixfold gradient in risk by migration history, comparable to the international differences in breast cancer incidence rates. Purpose: In this analysis, we have examined the roles of adult height, adiposity, and weight change in breast cancer etiology. Methods: A population-based, case-control study of breast cancer was conducted among women of Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino ethnicities, aged 20–55 years, living in San Francisco-Oakland (CA), Los Angeles (CA), and Oahu (HI) during the period from April 1, 1983, through June 30, 1987. We successfully interviewed 597 (70%) of 852 eligible case subjects and 966 (75%) of 1287 eligible control subjects from August 1985 through February 1989. Subjects were asked about current height, usual adult weight, and usual weight in each decade of life, excluding the most recent 3 years and any periods of pregnancy. Results: Height, recent adiposity (weight in the current decade of life/height1.5), and recent weight change (between the current and preceding decades of life) were strong predictors of breast cancer risk after adjustment was made for accepted breast cancer risk factors. Risk doubled (relative risk [RR] = 2.01; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.16–3.49) over the 7-inch (17.8-cm) range in height (two-sided P for trend = .003), with comparable effects in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women. Except for reduced risk in the heavy, younger women (weight/height1.5>29 kg/m1.5 and
ISSN:0027-8874
1460-2105
DOI:10.1093/jnci/88.10.650