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Being breastfed in infancy and adult breast cancer risk among Japanese women

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Abstract

Objective

Being breastfed in infancy has been hypothesized to influence subsequent breast cancer risk. In a hospital-based case–control study, we investigated the relationship between having been breastfed and breast cancer risk, both overall and separately among female subjects with different birth years.

Methods

The study subjects included 571 cases and 2,155 controls admitted to a single hospital in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, between 1997 and 2005. History of having been breastfed was assessed with a self-administered questionnaire. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were estimated using logistic regression.

Results

After adjustment for known risk factors, no association for having been breastfed was observed overall (OR = 1.20; 95% CI: 0.82–1.76). Analysis stratified according to birth year (<1950, ≥1950) demonstrated heterogeneity in the association for having been breastfed between the two birth-year groups (p for interaction = 0.0006); having been breastfed was significantly associated with a decreased risk among subjects who were born before 1950 (OR = 0.59; 95% CI: 0.35–0.99), whereas no such risk reduction was observed for subjects born after 1950 (OR = 1.60; 95% CI: 0.88–2.90).

Conclusion

Although having been breastfed is not related to overall risk, birth year may modify the association between having been breastfed in infancy and breast cancer risk. In Japan, sociodemographic changes have occurred since the end of World War II. The use of standard formula supplement began to spread around 1950. The difference of breast cancer risk between birth-year groups may be attributable to these environmental changes.

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Abbreviations

OR:

Odds ratio

CI:

Confidence interval

MCCH:

Miyagi Cancer Center Hospital

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all staff members of the Miyagi Cancer Center who generously cooperated in this study. This work was supported by a grant for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan (H23-Kiban B-23390169).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Community Health, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan

    Yuko Minami & Masaaki Kawai

  2. Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention, Miyagi Cancer Center Research Institute, 47-1 Nodayama, Medeshima-Shiode, Natori, Miyagi, 981-1293, Japan

    Yoshikazu Nishino

  3. Department of Surgical Oncology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, 980-8574, Japan

    Masaaki Kawai

  4. Department of Breast Oncology, Miyagi Cancer Center Hospital, 47-1 Nodayama, Medeshima-Shiode, Natori, Miyagi, 981-1293, Japan

    Yoichiro Kakugawa

Authors
  1. Yuko Minami
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  2. Yoshikazu Nishino
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  3. Masaaki Kawai
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  4. Yoichiro Kakugawa
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Correspondence to Yuko Minami.

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Minami, Y., Nishino, Y., Kawai, M. et al. Being breastfed in infancy and adult breast cancer risk among Japanese women. Cancer Causes Control 23, 389–398 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-011-9888-3

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