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. 2020 Jul 28;17(15):5445. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17155445

Table 2.

Association of C-reactive protein (CRP) measured in blood with breast cancer risk from studies published January 2014 to April 2020 in PubMed.

Unique Study # [Citation #] Author, Year Biomarker Analytic Sample Cases Estimate Units of Comparison Covariates
Meta-analyses
5 [23] Chan, 2015 CRP all women in study 3522 RR 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.12 per doubling of concentration varied by study
CRP postmenopausal women 2516 RR 1.06, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.11
10 [22] Guo, 2015 CRP all women in study 4724 OR 1.14, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.25 per natural log increase in concentration varied by study
16 [21] Wang, 2015 CRP all women in study 5371 RR 1.26, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.49 highest vs. lowest category varied by study
Women’s Health Initiative
4 [28] Busch, 2018 hsCRP postmenopausal women 394 HR 1.03, 95% CI: 0.83, 1.27 dichotomized at 3 mg/L age, race/ethnicity, cohort enrollment, age at menarche, age at menopause, HRT use, breastfeeding, BMI, smoking status, caregiving, negative life events, physical activity, sleep quality
hsCRP postmenopausal, in situ cancer 100 HR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.67, 1.55
9 [32] Gunter, 2015 CRP postmenopausal women 875 HR 1.24, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.80 highest vs. lowest quartile age, BMI, ethnicity, alcohol, family history of BC, parity, years of menstruation, age at first birth, HRT use, endogenous estradiol levels, history of BBD, physical activity
CRP postmenopausal, HRT non-users 412 HR 1.63, 95% CI: 0.95, 2.80
CRP postmenopausal, HRT users 463 HR 0.90, 95% CI: 0.53, 1.53
12 [34] Nelson, 2017 hsCRP postmenopausal women 1114 HR 1.05, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.12 per 1 SD increase in natural log concentration BMI, race/ethnicity, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, HRT use
hsCRP postmenopausal, BMI < 25 kg/m2 na HR 1.17, 95% CI: 1.03, 1.33
hsCRP postmenopausal, BMI 25–30 kg/m2 na HR 1.04, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.16
hsCRP postmenopausal, BMI 30–35 kg/m2 na HR 0.94, 95% CI: 0.82, 1.08
hsCRP postmenopausal, BMI >35 kg/m2 na HR 0.97, 95% CI: 0.81, 1.16
Women’s Health Study
13 [35] Tobias, 2018 hsCRP all women in study 1497 HR 0.84, 95% CI: 0.69, 1.04 highest vs. lowest quintile age, BMI, treatment allocation, family history of BC, history of BBD, race/ethnicity, menopausal status, HRT use, age at menarche, parity, age at first birth, OC use, mammography screening, Alternative Healthy Eating Index 2010 score, physical activity, alcohol, smoking, other measured inflammatory biomarkers
hsCRP postmenopausal women 859 HR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.12 per 1 SD increase in concentration
hsCRP premenopausal women 393 HR 0.96, 95% CI: 0.84, 1.10
hsCRP HRT non-users 682 HR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.92, 1.14
hsCRP HRT past users 134 HR 0.85, 95% CI: 0.67, 1.08
hsCRP HRT current users 679 HR 1.00, 95% CI: 0.90, 1.11
hsCRP women with BMI < 25 kg/m2 759 HR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.12
hsCRP women with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 727 HR 0.95, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.06
15 [21] Wang, 2015 hsCRP all women in study 1919 HR 0.89, 95% CI: 0.76, 1.06 highest vs. lowest quintile BMI, family history of BC, history of BBD, age at menarche, parity, age at first birth, alcohol, smoking, physical activity
Nurses’ Health Study
14 [21] Wang, 2015 hsCRP all women in study 943 RR 1.27, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.73 highest vs. lowest quintile BMI, family history of BC, history of BBD, age at menarche, parity, age at first birth, alcohol, smoking, physical activity
Women’s Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study
14-15 [21] Wang, 2015 hsCRP all women in study 2862 RR 1.04, 95% CI: 0.74, 1.46 highest vs. lowest quintile age, BMI, treatment allocation, menopausal status, HRT use, family history of BC, history of BBD, age at menarche, parity, age at first birth, alcohol, smoking, physical activity
Population-based cohort in Denmark
2 [26] Allin, 2016 hsCRP all women in study 822 RR 1.30, 95% CI: 1.07, 1.57 highest vs. lowest tertile age, BMI, physical activity, smoking, alcohol, OC use, HRT use
Population-based cohort in Norway
8 [31] Frydenberg, 2016 hsCRP all women in study 192 HR 1.53, 95% CI: 1.03, 2.28 highest vs. lowest tertile age, BMI, number of children, smoking
hsCRP postmenopausal women 149 HR 1.87, 95% CI: 1.17, 2.98
hsCRP premenopausal women 43 HR 0.89, 95% CI: 0.37, 2.15
hsCRP
hsCRP		 HRT non-users
HRT users		 130
44		 HR 1.69, 95% CI: 0.99, 2.78
HR 0.91, 95% CI: 0.42, 1.99
hsCRP postmenopausal HRT non-users 99 HR 2.08, 95% CI: 1.16, 3.76
hsCRP postmenopausal HRT users 37 HR 1.32, 95% CI: 0.57, 3.05
Chinese Kailuan Female Cohort
17 [36] Wang, 2015 hsCRP all women in study 87 HR 1.74, 95% CI: 1.01, 2.97 >3 vs. <1 mg/L age, BMI, smoking, alcohol, diabetes, physical activity, marital status
hsCRP postmenopausal women 57 HR 1.34, 95% CI: 0.68, 2.64
hsCRP premenopausal women 30 HR 2.76, 95% CI: 1.18, 6.48
Apolipoprotein Mortality Risk Study
18 [37] Wulaningsih, 2015 CRP all women in study 6606 HR 0.99, 95% CI: 0.92, 1.06 dichotomized at 10 mg/L age, SES
postmenopausal women 5623 HR 1.00, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.07
premenopausal women 3379 HR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.08, 1.30
Nested case-control in EPIC-Varese
1 [25] Agnoli, 2017 CRP all women in study 351 RR 1.15, 95% CI: 0.75, 1.76 highest vs. lowest tertile age, BMI, family history of BC, age at menarche, parity, OC use, smoking education, alcohol
CRP postmenopausal women 167 RR 2.42, 95% CI: 1.17, 5.00
CRP premenopausal women 180 RR 0.74, 95% CI: 0.40, 1.37
Nested case-control in French E3N
7 [30] Dossus, 2014 CRP postmenopausal women 549 OR 1.13, 95% CI: 0.98, 1.29 per natural log increase in concentration age, menopausal status, year of blood collection, study center, age at menopause
CRP postmenopausal, BMI < 25 kg/m2 394 OR 1.02, 95% CI: 0.86, 1.21
CRP postmenopausal, BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2 156 OR 1.52, 95% CI: 1.16, 2.00
CRP postmenopausal, WC < 88 cm 482 OR 1.08, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.26
CRP postmenopausal, WC ≥ 88 cm 67 OR 1.74, 95% CI: 1.13, 2.66
CRP postmenopausal, HC < 97 cm 238 OR 1.14, 95% CI: 0.92, 1.42
CRP postmenopausal, HC ≥ 97 cm 311 OR 1.13, 95% CI: 0.94, 1.37
CRP postmenopausal, WHR < 0.80 383 OR 1.06, 95% CI: 0.89, 1.26
CRP postmenopausal, WHR ≥ 0.80 166 OR 1.28, 95% CI: 0.99, 1.65

Notes: BBD = benign breast disease; BC = breast cancer; BMI = body mass index; CRP = C-reactive protein; HC = hip circumference; HRT = hormone replacement therapy; hsCRP = high-sensitivity CRP; na = not available; OC = oral contraceptive; SES = socioeconomic status; WC = waist circumference; WHR = waist-to-hip ratio. Unique study # distinguishes the 18 different studies from the 16 publications identified in this review and can be used to cross-reference with Table 1. Citation # corresponds to the reference number of each publication in this review and can be cross-referenced with the Reference list at the end of the paper.