Journal article
Infertility and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in the women's health initiative
Breast cancer research and treatment, v 205(3), pp 497-506
01 Jun 2024
PMID: 38459395
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Although infertility (i.e., failure to conceive after ≥ 12 months of trying) is strongly correlated with established breast cancer risk factors (e.g., nulliparity, number of pregnancies, and age at first pregnancy), its association with breast cancer incidence is not fully understood. Previous studies were primarily small clinic-based or registry studies with short follow-up and predominantly focused on premenopausal breast cancer. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between infertility and postmenopausal breast cancer risk among participants in the Women's Health Initiative (analytic sample = 131,784; > 25 years of follow-up).
At study entry, participants were asked about their pregnancy history, infertility history, and diagnosed reasons for infertility. Incident breast cancers were self-reported with adjudication by trained physicians reviewing medical records. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate risk of incident postmenopausal breast cancer for women with infertility (overall and specific infertility diagnoses) compared to parous women with no history of infertility. We examined mediation of these associations by parity, age at first term pregnancy, postmenopausal hormone therapy use at baseline, age at menopause, breastfeeding, and oophorectomy.
We observed a modest association between infertility (n = 23,406) and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer (HR = 1.07; 95% CI 1.02-1.13). The association was largely mediated by age at first term pregnancy (natural indirect effect: 46.4% mediated, CI 12.2-84.3%).
These findings suggest that infertility may be modestly associated with future risk of postmenopausal breast cancer due to age at first pregnancy and highlight the importance of incorporating reproductive history across the life course into breast cancer analyses.
Metrics
1 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Infertility and risk of postmenopausal breast cancer in the women's health initiative
- Creators
- Leslie V Farland (Corresponding Author) - University of ArizonaKimberly E Lind - University of ArizonaCynthia A Thomson - University of ArizonaNazmus Saquib - Sulaiman Al Rajhi CollegesAladdin H Shadyab - University of California San DiegoPeter F Schnatz - Reading HospitalRogelio Robles-Morales - University of ArizonaLihong Qi - University of California, DavisHoward Strickler - Albert Einstein College of MedicineDorothy S Lane - Stony Brook UniversityGayathree Murugappan - Pacific Fertility CenterDenise J Roe - University of ArizonaHolly R Harris - University of Washington
- Publication Details
- Breast cancer research and treatment, v 205(3), pp 497-506
- Publisher
- Springer Nature
- Grant note
- HHSN268201600018C / NHLBI NIH HHS HD102403 / National Institute of Child Health and Human Development R03 HD102403 / NICHD NIH HHS HHSN268201600003C / NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201600004C / NHLBI NIH HHS HHSN268201600002C / NHLBI NIH HHS P30 CA093373 / NCI NIH HHS HHSN268201600001C / NHLBI NIH HHS
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- School of Biomedical Engineering and Science
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:001177762900001
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-85187132891
- Other Identifier
- 991022202083304721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
Source: SDGs in the Output
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- International collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Oncology