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Lactation and breast cancer risk: a case–control study in Connecticut

British Journal of Cancer volume 84, pages 1472–1476 (2001)Cite this article

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Abstract

In this report, we examined the relationship between lactation and breast cancer risk, in a case–control study of breast cancer, conducted in Connecticut between 1994 and 1998. Included were 608 incident breast cancer cases and 609 age frequency matched controls, aged 30–80 years old. Cases and controls were interviewed by trained study interviewers, using a standardized, structured questionnaire, to obtain information on lactation and other major risk factors. Parous women who reported ever lactation had a borderline significantly reduced risk of breast cancer (OR=0.83, 95% CI, 0.63–1.09). An OR of 0.53 (95% CI, 0.27–1.04) was observed in those having breastfed more than 3 children compared to those who never lactated. Women having breastfed their first child for more than 13 months had an OR of 0.47 (95% CI, 0.23–0.94) compared to those who never breastfed. Lifetime duration of lactation also showed a risk reduction while none of the ORs were statistically significant. Further stratification by menopausal status showed a risk reduction related to lactation for both pre- and postmenopausal women, while the relationship is less consistent for the latter. These results support an inverse association between breastfeeding and breast cancer risk. © 2001 Cancer Research Campaign http://www.bjcancer.com

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  • 16 November 2011

    This paper was modified 12 months after initial publication to switch to Creative Commons licence terms, as noted at publication

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, 60 College, New Haven, 06520, CT, USA

    T Zheng, T R Holford, S T Mayne, P H Owens & Y Zhang

  2. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McGill University, Montreal, H3A1A2, Canada

    B Zhang

  3. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, European Institute of Oncology, Milan, 20141, Italy

    P Boyle

  4. Division of Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, 20892, USA

    S H Zahm

Authors
  1. T Zheng
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  2. T R Holford
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  3. S T Mayne
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  4. P H Owens
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  5. Y Zhang
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  6. B Zhang
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  7. P Boyle
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  8. S H Zahm
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From twelve months after its original publication, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

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Zheng, T., Holford, T., Mayne, S. et al. Lactation and breast cancer risk: a case–control study in Connecticut. Br J Cancer 84, 1472–1476 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.2001.1793

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1054/bjoc.2001.1793

Keywords

  • breast cancer
  • breastfeeding
  • lactation
  • case–control study

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