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Long-term excess body fat in adulthood and the risk of pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer in Chinese women

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate the association between long-term excess body fat and breast cancer risk by studying adult weight gain together with the subsequent weight fluctuations.

Methods

Weight gain measure in three different time periods in adulthood of 1500 participants was collected in a case–control study of Western China. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios and 95% CIs.

Results

The increased risk of postmenopausal BC was associated with adult weight gain at 5 years and at 10 years before enrollment (OR 1.24, 95% CI 1.03–1.49 per 5 kg increase; OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.14–1.70 per 5 kg increase) but was not associated with adult weight gain at enrollment (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.81–1.16 per 5 kg increase). Only a positive association was observed in premenopausal women who had gained > 5.0 kg at 10 years before enrollment (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.10–2.35). Women who had gained > 5.0 kg at 10 years before enrollment and continued to gain during the subsequent 5 years had the highest postmenopausal BC risk (OR 3.34, 95% CI 1.58–7.08).

Conclusion

Adult weight gain at 5 years and 10 years before enrollment are more closely associated with postmenopausal BC risk than adult weight gain at enrollment in Western China. Controlling body weight as early as possible throughout adulthood to keep weight gain not more than 5.0 kg is particularly necessary for Chinese women.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Mark Abramovitz, PhD, and H. Nikki March, PhD, for editing this paper. And we also thank all the participants from the Sichuan Cancer Hospital, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, and Chengdu Shuangliu District Maternal and Child Health Hospital.

Funding

This study was funded by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81302500) and was also supported by the People-benefit Project of Chengdu Science and Technology Bureau (No. 2015-HM01-00049-SF) and Key R & D project of science and technology program of Sichuan, China (No. 2017SZ0005).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, West China School of Public Health and West China Fourth Hospital, Sichuan University, No. 16 Ren Min Nan Lu, Chengdu, 610041, Sichuan, China

    Yu Hao, Bin Xu, Can Hou & Jiayuan Li

  2. Chengdu Shuangliu Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Qiming Yan

  3. Department of Maternal and Child Health, Chengdu Shuangliu Maternal and Child Health Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Min Zhou & Lin Wu

  4. Department of Head, Neck and Mammary Gland Oncology, Cancer Center, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Xiaorong Zhong

  5. Laboratory of Molecular Diagnosis of Cancer, Clinical Research Center for Breast, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

    Xiaorong Zhong

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  1. Yu Hao
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  2. Bin Xu
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  3. Qiming Yan
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  4. Min Zhou
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  6. Lin Wu
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  8. Jiayuan Li
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Correspondence to Jiayuan Li.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Hao, Y., Xu, B., Yan, Q. et al. Long-term excess body fat in adulthood and the risk of pre- and postmenopausal breast cancer in Chinese women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 182, 195–206 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-020-05685-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-020-05685-4

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