ASPO Abstracts
Childhood body size and midlife mammographic breast density in a predominantly U.S. racial minority and immigrant sample
Category: Lifestyles Behavior, Energy Balance & Chemoprevention, Early Detection & Risk Prediction
Conference Year: 2018
Abstract Body:
Mammographic breast density (MBD) is a strong and independent risk factor for breast cancer. While childhood and adolescent body size have been associated with reduced breast cancer risk, research on early life body size influences on MBD is sparse and varies by menopausal status. The few studies in racially/ethnically diverse populations have produced mostly null results. Our purpose was to examine the effects of childhood body size on absolute and relative quantitative measures of MBD in a sample of midlife women of predominately U.S. racial/ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds. We used data collected from the New York Mammographic Density Study, an ongoing study of breast cancer screening and prevention in diverse women, recruited through a screening mammography facility in New York City (n=518, 40-64 years, 71% Hispanic; 68% foreign-born). We collected interview data on breast cancer risk factors, self-reported body size at age 10 using a 9-figure pictogram, measured height and weight, and measured MBD from digital mammograms using Cumulus software. We used linear regression models to examine childhood body size in relation to percent and areas of dense and non-dense breast tissue, adjusting for age and BMI at mammogram, race, parity, family history, benign breast disease, and educational attainment. We observed a pattern of decreasing percent density and increasing non-dense area with higher levels of childhood body size (heaviest vs. leanest childhood body size comparison on square root [SQT] transformed percent density: β= -0.6; 95% CI: -1.0, -0.1; SQT non-dense area: β= 1.2; 95% CI: 0.5, 2.0). In multivariable models separately stratified by nativity and menopausal statuses, heaviest vs. leanest childhood body size was associated with lower percent density and smaller dense area in only U.S.-born women (e.g., -1.0; 95% CI: -1.7, -0. for SQT percent density), and with lower percent density, smaller dense area, and larger non- dense area only in postmenopausal women (e.g., β=-1.2; 95% CI: -1.9, -0.6 for SQT percent density). These findings suggest that heavy childhood body size is associated with lower MBD, possibly through increased non- dense breast area in postmenopausal and U.S.-born women.
Keywords: mammographic breast density; body size; childhood; breast cancer