Abstract
Many reports suggest that physically active women have a somewhat lower breast cancer incidence than physically inactive women. We hypothesized that indices of physical activity are associated inversely with breast cancer incidence after adjustment for confounders. The sample comprised 7994 women, aged 45–64, who participated in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. Baseline physical activity was assessed by the Baecke questionnaire. Over an average follow-up of 13.1 yrs, 342 incident breast cancer cases were ascertained. After adjustment for age, race, study center, age at first live birth, age at menopause, and family history of breast cancer in a first-degree relative, there was no statistically significant association of breast cancer incidence with baseline physical activity levels for leisure, sport or work indices. Compared with the lowest quartile of physical activity, women in the highest quartile had a multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 1.00 (95% confidence interval (CI)=0.64–1.54) for the leisure index, 1.31 (95% CI=0.87–1.96) for the sport index and 0.87 (95% CI=0.61–1.24) for the work index. Our findings do not corroborate the majority of previous reports, which implicated physical inactivity as a risk factor for breast cancer.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gammon MD, John ES, Britton JA (1998) Recreational and occupational physical activities and risk of breast cancerJ Natl Cancer Inst 90:100–117
Friedenreich CM, Orenstein MR (2002) Physical activity and cancer prevention: etiologic evidence and biological mechanismsJ Nutr 132 (11 Suppl): 3456S-3464S
ARICInvestigators (1989) The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study: design and objectivesAm J Epidemiol 129:687–702
Baecke JAH, Burema J, Frijters JER (1982) A short questionnaire for the measurement of habitual physical activity in epidemiological studiesAm J Clin Nutr 36: 936–942
Jacobs DR Jr, Ainsworth BE, Hartman TJ, Leon AS (1993) A simultaneous evaluation of 10 commonly used physical activity questionnairesMed Sci Sports Exerc 25: 81–91
Ferrario M, Carpenter MA, Chambless LE 1995Reliability of body fat distribution measurements: the ARIC Study baseline cohort resultsInt J Obes Relat Metab Disord 19: 449–457
Vainio H, Bianchini F (eds): Weight Control and Physical Activity. IARC Handbooks for Cancer Prevention, Vol. 6. IARC Press, Lyon, 2002
McTiernan A, Kooperberg C, White E, Wilcox S, Coates R, Adams-Campbell LL, Woods N, Ockene J (2003) Recreational physical activity and the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women: the Women’s Health Initiative Cohort StudyJAMA 290:1331–1336
Rockhill B, Willett WC, Hunter DJ, Manson JE, Hankinson SE, Colditz GA (1999) A prospective study of recreational physical activity and breast cancer riskArch Intern Med 159: 2290–2296
Thune I, Brenn T, Lund E, Gaard M (1997) Physical activity and the risk of breast cancerN Engl J Med 336: 1269–1275
Key TJ, Verkasalo PK, Banks E (2001) Epidemiology of breast cancerLancet Oncol 2:133–140
John EM, Horn-Ross PL, Koo J (2003) Lifetime physical activity and breast cancer risk in a multiethnic population: the San Francisco Bay area breast cancer studyCancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 12(11 Pt 1):1143–1152
Gammon MD, Schoenberg JB, Britton JA, Kelsey JL, Coates RJ, Brogan D, Potischman N, Swanson CA, Daling JR, Stanford JL, Brinton LA (1998) Recreational physical activity and breast cancer risk among women under age 45 yearsAm J Epidemiol 147: 273–280
Friedenreich CM, (2004) Physical activity and breast cancer risk: the effect of menopausal statusExerc Sport Sci Rev 32: 180–184
Acknowledgements
Supported by National Cancer Institute grant R03-CA65473. The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study is carried out as a collaborative study supported by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute contracts N01-HC-55015, N01-HC-55016, N01-HC-55018, N01-HC-55019, N01-HC-55020, N01-HC-55021, and N01-HC-55022. The authors thank the staff and participants of the ARIC study for their important contributions.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mertens, A.J., Sweeney, C., Shahar, E. et al. Physical activity and breast cancer incidence in middle-aged women: a prospective cohort study. Breast Cancer Res Treat 97, 209–214 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-005-9114-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-005-9114-7