Skip to main content
. 2010 May 11;171(11):1183–1194. doi: 10.1093/aje/kwq045

Table 5.

Multivariate-Adjusted Relative Riska of Breast Cancer of Different Tumor Subtypes According to Self-Reported Average Adolescent Body Fatness Among Participants in the Nurses’ Health Study (1988–2004) and Nurses’ Health Study II (1989–2005)

Tumor Subtype No. of Cases RR by Average Adolescent Body Fatnessb (Ages 10–20 Years)
Ptrend
1 (Referent) 1.5–2 2.5–3 3.5–4 ≥4.5
Per 1-Unit Increase
RR 95% CI RR 95% CI
Invasive 6,176 1.0 0.98 0.94 0.81 0.69 0.61, 0.77 0.90 0.88, 0.92 <0.0001
In situ 1,406 1.0 1.04 0.92 0.93 0.66 0.51, 0.85 0.91 0.87, 0.95 <0.0001
    Pheterogeneity = 0.82
ER+/PR+ 3,191 1.0 0.92 0.91 0.79 0.72 0.61, 0.84 0.92 0.89, 0.95 <0.0001
ER−/PR− 880 1.0 1.09 0.93 0.85 0.56 0.40, 0.79 0.85 0.80, 0.90 <0.0001
ER+/PR− 696 1.0 1.02 0.90 0.80 0.72 0.51, 1.01 0.90 0.85, 0.96 0.002
    Pheterogeneity = 0.08
All ER+ 4,031 1.0 0.93 0.91 0.78 0.72 0.63, 0.83 0.92 0.89, 0.94 <0.0001
All ER− 1,077 1.0 1.09 0.94 0.87 0.56 0.42, 0.76 0.86 0.81, 0.91 <0.0001
    Pheterogeneity = 0.03
Ductal 4,671 1.0 0.96 0.91 0.79 0.69 0.60, 0.79 0.91 0.88, 0.93 <0.0001
Lobular 615 1.0 1.16 1.13 0.76 0.75 0.51, 1.10 0.88 0.82, 0.95 0.001
    Pheterogeneity = 0.46
HER2+c 391 1.0 0.90 0.74 0.63 0.57 0.35, 0.90 0.85 0.77, 0.93 0.0004
HER2−c 1,517 1.0 1.01 0.98 0.85 0.82 0.65, 1.04 0.93 0.89, 0.97 0.002
    Pheterogeneity = 0.07

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; ER, estrogen receptor; PR, progesterone receptor; HER2, human epidermal growth factor receptor 2; RR, relative risk.

a

Multivariate RRs were adjusted for age, time period, parity/age at first birth, family history of breast cancer, personal history of benign breast disease, height, alcohol intake, oral contraceptive use, birth weight, menopausal status, age at menopause, and postmenopausal hormone use.

b

Participants were asked to recall their body fatness at ages 5, 10, and 20 years using a 9-level figure drawing, where level 1 represents the most lean and level 9 represents the most overweight (Figure 1) (26).

c

Analyses for HER2+ and HER2− tumors were from 1998–2004 in the Nurses’ Health Study and from 1999–2005 in Nurses’ Health Study II, because HER2 status was not evaluated before the 1998 and 1999 follow-up cycles, respectively.