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Breastfeeding and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer

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Abstract

Objective

Several studies have found inverse associations between breastfeeding and ovarian cancer occurrence but there are inconsistencies. The relationship with breastfeeding duration is unclear, and it is uncertain whether the association varies according to histological subtype of ovarian cancer. We sought to clarify these issues.

Methods

Parous women who participated in an Australia-wide population-based case–control study of epithelial ovarian cancer between 2001 and 2005 (1,092 cases and 1,288 controls) completed a reproductive/lifestyle questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to investigate relations between breastfeeding and ovarian cancer.

Results

We found a strong inverse association between total duration of breastfeeding (all episodes combined) and ovarian cancer occurrence (OR = 0.986, 95% CI 0.978–0.994 per month of breastfeeding) that appeared to be independent of parity. However, individual episodes of lactation beyond 12 months conferred no appreciable additional benefit. The relation with breastfeeding appeared to vary by histological subtype such that we saw no association between duration of breastfeeding and borderline serous cancers or mucinous cancers, but inverse associations for the other subtypes, although these were not always statistically significant.

Conclusions

A long total duration of breastfeeding appears to be associated with a substantial reduction in the overall risk of ovarian cancer, independent of the decrease in risk due to childbirth, but this may vary according to histological subtype.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the following institutions: New South Wales—John Hunter Hospital, North Shore Private Hospital, Royal Hospital for Women, Royal North Shore Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Westmead Hospital and New South Wales Cancer Registry; Queensland—Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Townsville Hospital, Wesley Hospital and Queensland Cancer Registry; South Australia—Flinders Medical Centre, Queen Elizabeth II, Royal Adelaide Hospital and South Australian Cancer Registry; Tasmania—Royal Hobart Hospital; Victoria: Freemasons Hospital, Mercy Hospital For Women, Monash Medical Centre, Royal Women’s Hospital and Victorian Cancer Registry; Western Australia—King Edward Memorial Hospital, St John of God Hospitals Subiaco, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Western Australia Research Tissue Network and Western Australia Cancer Registry. We also acknowledge the contribution of the study nurses and project staff and would like to thank all of the women who participated in the study. Financial support: The Australian Ovarian Cancer Study was supported by the US Army Medical Research and Materiel Command under DAMD17-01-1-0729, The Cancer Council Tasmania and The Cancer Foundation of Western Australia; The Australian Cancer Study was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia (199600). SJ is supported by a Post-doctoral Public Health Training Fellowship and PW and DW by Senior Research Fellowships from the NHMRC.

Conflict of Interest Statement

There are no conflicts of interest to declare. The funding bodies played no role in the study design, in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript or in the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Public Health Building, Herston Rd, Herston, Brisbane, 4006, Australia

    Susan J. Jordan

  2. Genetics and Population Health Division, The Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia

    Susan J. Jordan, Victor Siskind, Adèle C Green, David C. Whiteman & Penelope M. Webb

Authors
  1. Susan J. Jordan
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  2. Victor Siskind
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  3. Adèle C Green
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  4. David C. Whiteman
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  5. Penelope M. Webb
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Susan J. Jordan.

Additional information

For the Australian Cancer Study (Ovarian Cancer) and the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group. Full membership of the Australian Ovarian Cancer Study Group is listed at http://www.aocstudy.org/; the Australian Cancer Study Investigators are A Green, P Parsons, N Hayward, P Webb, D Whiteman.

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Jordan, S.J., Siskind, V., C Green, A. et al. Breastfeeding and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer. Cancer Causes Control 21, 109–116 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9440-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-009-9440-x

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