Title: Birth weight and subsequent risk of cancer.

Authors: Spracklen, Cassandra N; Wallace, Robert B; Sealy-Jefferson, Shawnita; Robinson, Jennifer G; Freudenheim, Jo L; Wellons, Melissa F; Saftlas, Audrey F; Snetselaar, Linda G; Manson, JoAnn E; Hou, Lifang; Qi, Lihong; Chlebowski, Rowan T; Ryckman, Kelli K

Published In Cancer Epidemiol, (2014 Oct)

Abstract: We aimed to determine the association between self-reported birth weight and incident cancer in the Women's Health Initiative Observational Study cohort, a large multiethnic cohort of postmenopausal women.65,850 women reported their birth weight by category (<6 lbs, 6-7 lbs 15 oz, 8-9 lbs 15 oz, and ≥10 lbs). All self-reported, incident cancers were adjudicated by study staff. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate crude and adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) for associations between birth weight and: (1) all cancer sites combined, (2) gynecologic cancers, and (3) several site-specific cancer sites.After adjustments, birth weight was positively associated with the risk of lung cancer (p=0.01), and colon cancer (p=0.04). An inverse trend was observed between birth weight and risk for leukemia (p=0.04). A significant trend was not observed with breast cancer risk (p=0.67); however, women born weighing ≥10 lbs were less likely to develop breast cancer compared to women born between 6 lbs-7 lbs 15 oz (aHR 0.77, 95% CI 0.63, 0.94).Birth weight category appears to be significantly associated with the risk of any postmenopausal incident cancer, though the direction of the association varies by cancer type.

PubMed ID: 25096278

MeSH Terms: No MeSH terms associated with this publication