Abstract
The incidence of in situ breast cancer in the USA has increased rapidly in recent years, even among young women. A population-based case-control study of 1616 breast cancer cases aged under 45 in the USA was used to examine risk factors for in situ, local and regional/distant tumours. Almost 60% of in situ tumours were detected by routine mammograms compared with 18% of local tumours and 8% of regional/distant tumours. After adjustment for screening history and established risk factors, family history of breast cancer in a first-degree relative and African-American race were associated with an increased risk of all stages of breast cancer. The associations with nulliparity, a previous breast biopsy and body mass index were significantly stronger for in situ tumours than for local or regional/distant disease. Alcohol consumption was associated with an increasing trend in risk of regional/distant tumours but not of earlier stage tumours, indicating that alcohol may be involved in late-stage events. Analyses by histological type of in situ tumours suggested that both ductal and lobular carcinoma in situ were associated with most established breast cancer risk factors, and the magnitude of association tended to be greater for the ductal form.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Weiss, H., Brinton, L., Brogan, D. et al. Epidemiology of in situ and invasive breast cancer in women aged under 45. Br J Cancer 73, 1298–1305 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1996.248
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1996.248
This article is cited by
-
Lifetime alcohol consumption patterns and young-onset breast cancer by subtype among Non-Hispanic Black and White women in the Young Women’s Health History Study
Cancer Causes & Control (2024)
-
Comparison of the association of mammographic density and clinical factors with ductal carcinoma in situ versus invasive ductal breast cancer in Korean women
BMC Cancer (2017)
-
ErbB2 and p38γ MAPK mediate alcohol-induced increase in breast cancer stem cells and metastasis
Molecular Cancer (2016)
-
Risk factors for young-onset invasive and in situ breast cancer
Cancer Causes & Control (2015)
-
Genetic risk variants associated with in situ breast cancer
Breast Cancer Research (2015)