Table 1.
Epidemiologic studies investigating environmental exposures during three windows of susceptibility in relation to an intermediate marker of breast cancer risk or breast cancer
| First author (Year) | Exposure | Outcome | Population | Sample size | Risk estimate | 95% CI | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exposure during prenatal window | |||||||
| Bonner (2005) [33] | Regional total suspended particulates | Breast cancer | Women 35–79, New York | 1166 cases and 2105 controls | OR 2.42 | 0.97–6.09 | > 140 vs < 84 μg/m3 TSP, postmenopausal women |
| OR 1.78 | 0.62–5.10 | > 140 vs < 84 μg/m3 TSP, premenopausal women | |||||
| Bocskay (2005) [32] | Personal airborne PAH; PAH DNA adducts | Chromosomal aberrations from cord blood | Newborns in Northern Manhattan; Bronx | 60 (32 female, 28 male) | Data not shown for PAH adducts | “No strong association” | |
|
Airborne PAH β = 0.14 |
p = 0.006 | Linear regression line slope | |||||
| Cohn (2015) [25] | Maternal o,p’-DDT | Daughter breast cancer | Mothers and adult daughters in Alameda County, CA | 118 cases and 354 controls | OR 3.7 | 1.5–9.0 | Fourth vs first quartile (> 0.78 vs < 0.27 ng/mL) |
| Exposure during puberty window | |||||||
| Tsai (2015) [82] | Serum PFOA | log-transformed SHBG | Taiwanese girls aged 12–17 | 65 | 2.96 (SE 0.34) vs 3.50 (SE 0.24) | p < 0.05 | Mean PFOA levels 90th vs 50th percentile (> 9.80 vs < 3.63 ng/mL) |
| Data not shown | p > 0.05 | FSH and testosterone | |||||
| Wolff (2015) [57] | Urinary phenols | Age at breast development | US girls aged 6–8 followed for 7 years | 1239 girls |
Enterolactone: HR 0.79 Benzophenone-3: HR 0.80 Triclosan: HR 1.17 2,5-dichlophenol: HR 1.37 |
0.64–0.98 0.65–0.98 0.96–1.43 1.09–1.72 |
5th vs 1st quintiles of biomarkers |
| Wolff (2014) [58] | Low and high molecular weight phthalate (MWP) metabolites from urine | Age of breast and pubic hair development | US girls aged 6–8 followed for 7 years | 1239 girls |
Pubic hair development age: HR 0.91 Breast development age: HR 0.99 |
0.84–0.99 0.91–1.08 |
5th vs 1st quintiles of high MWP metabolites. Results null for low MWP metabolites. |
| Wolff (2010) [59] | Low and high molecular weight phthalate (MWP) metabolites from urine | Stage of breast and pubic hair development | US girls aged 6–8 followed for 1 year | 1151 girls |
Pubic hair development: PR 0.94 Breast development: PR 1.03 |
0.88–1.00 0.97–1.10 |
5th vs 1st quintiles of high MWP metabolites. Results attenuated for low MWP metabolites (p = 0.08). |
| Windham (2015) [60] | PBDE, PCB, OCP | Tanner stage 2+ vs 1 (breast development) | US girls aged 6–8 followed for 7 years | 645 girls |
PBDE: TR 1.05 PCB: TR 1.05 OCP: TR 1.10 |
1.02–1.08 1.01–1.08 1.06–1.14 |
4th vs 1st quartile. Results similar for pubic hair development. |
| Cohn (2007, 2019) [67, 68] | p,p’-DDT metabolites in serum taken after giving birth (initial DDT exposure likely before age 14 years) | Breast cancer before age 50 | Women in Child Health and Development Studies cohort | 129 cases and 129 matched controls | OR 5.4 | 1.7–17.1 | Highest vs lowest tertile (> 13.90 vs < 8.09 μg/L) |
| Breast cancer diagnosis during ages 50–54 | 153 cases and 432 matched controls | OR 1.88 | 1.37–2.59 | One-unit change in log2 (p,p’-DDT), approximately equal to a 2-fold increase | |||
| Exposure during pregnancy | |||||||
| Nie (2007) [115] | Regional total suspended particulates at time of first birth | Post-menopausal breast cancer | Women 35–79 in Erie and Niagara Counties | 220 cases and 301 controls | OR 2.57 | 1.16–5.69 | Highest vs lowest quartile |
| Bonefeld-Jorgensen (2014) [83] | 16 serum PFAS during pregnancy including 10 PFCA, 5 PFSA, and PFOSA | Breast cancer | Danish National Birth Cohort | 250 cases and 233 controls |
PFOSA: RR 1.04 PFHxS: RR 0.66 |
0.99–1.08 0.47–0.94 |
Continuous per ng/ml. All other PFAS were null. |
| Cohn (2012) [110] | Serum PCB during early postpartum | Breast cancer before age 50 | Women in Child Health and Development Studies cohort | 112 cases with matched controls |
PCB 167: OR 0.24 PCB 187: OR 0.35 PCB 203: OR 6.34 |
0.07–0.79 0.11–1.14 1.85–21.7 |
Highest vs lowest quartile (> 0.30 vs < 0.08 mmol/l) (> 0.66 vs < 0.38 mmol/l) (> 0.42 vs < 0.34 mmol/l) |
Abbreviations: AA African American, BMI body mass index, FSH follicle-stimulating hormone, HR hazard ratio, IRR incidence rate ratio, NHANES National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, OR odds ratio, PAH polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PFAS perfluoroalkylated substances, PFHxS perfluorohexanesulfonate, PFOA perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOSA perflurooctane-sulfonamide, PR prevalence ratio, RR relative risk, SHBG sex hormone-binding globulin, TR time ratio of median ages across quantile groups