Table 3.
Associations of WBC and NLR with breast cancer incidence among women, stratified by baseline menopausal status
| Total WBC, per quartile | NLR, per quartile | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HR | (95%CI) | p-trend | Pinteraction | HR | (95%CI) | p-trend | Pinteraction | |
| All | 1.06 | (1.03-1.09) | 0.0002 | 1.02 | (0.99-1.05) | 0.24 | ||
| According to menopausal status at baseline* | ||||||||
| Premenopause (n=57,606) | 1.07 | (1.01-1.14) | 0.02 | 0.6** | 0.95 | (0.89-1.01) | 0.10 | 0.04** |
| Postmenopause (n=142,592) | 1.05 | (1.01-1.09) | 0.007 | 1.03 | (1.00-1.07) | 0.08 | ||
Models included WBC and NLR quartiles and were additionally adjusted for age as 3-knot spline, sex, race/ethnicity (White, Black, Asian, mixed or missing), smoking history (25-level variable incorporating current smoking status, smoking intensity [current and former smokers]; time since quitting [former smokers], and cigar and pipe use [current and former smokers]), alcohol drinking (never, past, current), and body mass index (<25, 25-30, ≥30kg/m2).
Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; HR, hazard ratio; NLR, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio; WBC, white blood cell
N=37,397 women with unknown menopausal status and N=1,174 women who were over age 55 years and reported being premenopausal at baseline were excluded.
Pinteraction between the breast cancer associations in premenopausal vs. postmenopausal women.