Trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer

Abstract Background Body fatness is a dynamic exposure throughout life. To provide more insight into the association between body mass index (BMI) and postmenopausal breast cancer, we aimed to examine the age at onset, duration, intensity, and trajectories of body fatness in adulthood in relation to...

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Main Authors: Marit Busund, Giske Ursin, Eiliv Lund, Tom Wilsgaard, Charlotta Rylander
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-10-01
Series:Breast Cancer Research
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s13058-023-01729-x
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author Marit Busund
Giske Ursin
Eiliv Lund
Tom Wilsgaard
Charlotta Rylander
author_facet Marit Busund
Giske Ursin
Eiliv Lund
Tom Wilsgaard
Charlotta Rylander
author_sort Marit Busund
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Body fatness is a dynamic exposure throughout life. To provide more insight into the association between body mass index (BMI) and postmenopausal breast cancer, we aimed to examine the age at onset, duration, intensity, and trajectories of body fatness in adulthood in relation to risk of breast cancer subtypes. Methods Based on self-reported anthropometry in the prospective Norwegian Women and Cancer Study, we calculated the age at onset, duration, and intensity of overweight and obesity using linear mixed-effects models. BMI trajectories in adulthood were modeled using group-based trajectory modeling. We used Cox proportional hazards models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between BMI exposures and breast cancer subtypes in 148,866 postmenopausal women. Results A total of 7223 incident invasive postmenopausal breast cancer cases occurred during follow-up. Increased overweight duration and age at the onset of overweight or obesity were associated with luminal A-like breast cancer. Significant heterogeneity was observed in the association between age at overweight and overweight duration and the intrinsic-like subtypes (p heterogeneity 0.03). Compared with women who remained at normal weight throughout adulthood, women with a descending BMI trajectory had a reduced risk of luminal A-like breast cancer (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.33–0.90), whereas women with ascending BMI trajectories were at increased risk (HR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01–1.17 for “Normal-overweight”; HR 1.20; 95% CI 1.07–1.33 for “Normal-obesity”). Overweight duration and weighted cumulative years of overweight and obesity were inversely associated with luminal B-like breast cancer. Conclusions In this exploratory analysis, decreasing body fatness from obesity in adulthood was inversely associated with overall, hormone receptor-positive and luminal A-like breast cancer in postmenopausal women. This study highlights the potential health benefits of reducing weight in adulthood and the health risks associated with increasing weight throughout adult life. Moreover, our data provide evidence of intrinsic-like tumor heterogeneity with regard to age at onset and duration of overweight.
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spelling doaj.art-ff8075eceda64afb97942340fe7014642023-10-29T12:40:51ZengBMCBreast Cancer Research1465-542X2023-10-0125111410.1186/s13058-023-01729-xTrajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancerMarit Busund0Giske Ursin1Eiliv Lund2Tom Wilsgaard3Charlotta Rylander4Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayCancer Registry of NorwayDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayDepartment of Community Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of NorwayAbstract Background Body fatness is a dynamic exposure throughout life. To provide more insight into the association between body mass index (BMI) and postmenopausal breast cancer, we aimed to examine the age at onset, duration, intensity, and trajectories of body fatness in adulthood in relation to risk of breast cancer subtypes. Methods Based on self-reported anthropometry in the prospective Norwegian Women and Cancer Study, we calculated the age at onset, duration, and intensity of overweight and obesity using linear mixed-effects models. BMI trajectories in adulthood were modeled using group-based trajectory modeling. We used Cox proportional hazards models to calculate hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the associations between BMI exposures and breast cancer subtypes in 148,866 postmenopausal women. Results A total of 7223 incident invasive postmenopausal breast cancer cases occurred during follow-up. Increased overweight duration and age at the onset of overweight or obesity were associated with luminal A-like breast cancer. Significant heterogeneity was observed in the association between age at overweight and overweight duration and the intrinsic-like subtypes (p heterogeneity 0.03). Compared with women who remained at normal weight throughout adulthood, women with a descending BMI trajectory had a reduced risk of luminal A-like breast cancer (HR 0.54, 95% CI 0.33–0.90), whereas women with ascending BMI trajectories were at increased risk (HR 1.09; 95% CI 1.01–1.17 for “Normal-overweight”; HR 1.20; 95% CI 1.07–1.33 for “Normal-obesity”). Overweight duration and weighted cumulative years of overweight and obesity were inversely associated with luminal B-like breast cancer. Conclusions In this exploratory analysis, decreasing body fatness from obesity in adulthood was inversely associated with overall, hormone receptor-positive and luminal A-like breast cancer in postmenopausal women. This study highlights the potential health benefits of reducing weight in adulthood and the health risks associated with increasing weight throughout adult life. Moreover, our data provide evidence of intrinsic-like tumor heterogeneity with regard to age at onset and duration of overweight.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13058-023-01729-xBreast cancer subtypesBody fatnessBody mass indexTrajectoryWomen
spellingShingle Marit Busund
Giske Ursin
Eiliv Lund
Tom Wilsgaard
Charlotta Rylander
Trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer
Breast Cancer Research
Breast cancer subtypes
Body fatness
Body mass index
Trajectory
Women
title Trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer
title_full Trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer
title_fullStr Trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer
title_full_unstemmed Trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer
title_short Trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer
title_sort trajectories of body mass index in adulthood and risk of subtypes of postmenopausal breast cancer
topic Breast cancer subtypes
Body fatness
Body mass index
Trajectory
Women
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s13058-023-01729-x
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