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Several anthropometric measurements and breast cancer risk: results of the E3N cohort study

International Journal of Obesity volume 30, pages 156–163 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate the association between various anthropometric characteristics and breast cancer.

Design:

Longitudinal prospective cohort study. Follow-up between 1995 and 2000.

Subjects:

In total, 69 116 women (age: 45–70 years; mean follow-up: 3.6 years), 275 premenopausal and 860 postmenopausal incident invasive breast cancers.

Measurements:

Self-reported height, weight, breast, thorax, waist and hip circumferences and calculated body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) at baseline.

Results:

A slight increase in risk with increasing height was found. Weight, BMI, thorax and waist circumferences and WHR were negatively related to breast cancer risk among premenopausal women. The relationships became non significant after additional adjustment for BMI. An increased risk of premenopausal breast cancer with an android body shape (WHR>0.87) might possibly be confined to obese women. Among postmenopausal women, all anthropometric measurements of corpulence were positively associated with breast cancer risk but became non significant after additional adjustment for BMI. No difference in risk of postmenopausal breast cancer according to HRT use was observed.

Conclusion:

The study confirmed that adiposity was negatively associated to premenopausal breast cancer risk and positively associated to postmenopausal breast cancer risk. Further studies will be needed to specify clearly the association between WHR and breast cancer risk, particularly before menopause.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to all participants for providing the data used in this study and to practitioners for providing pathology reports. We thank the French League against Cancer, the European Community, the 3M Company, the Mutuelle Générale de l'Education Nationale, the Gustave Roussy Institute and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research for supporting the E3N study financially. We are grateful to all the practitioners concerned for providing accurate information and to Garth Evans for his assistance with the English language.

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  1. Equipe Inserm-IGR ‘Nutrition, Hormones, Cancer’, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif Cedex, France

    B Tehard & F Clavel-Chapelon

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  1. B Tehard
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  2. F Clavel-Chapelon
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and the E3N group

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Correspondence to F Clavel-Chapelon.

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Tehard, B., Clavel-Chapelon, F. & and the E3N group. Several anthropometric measurements and breast cancer risk: results of the E3N cohort study. Int J Obes 30, 156–163 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803133

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