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Cancer Causes & Control
Published in: Cancer Causes & Control 10/2019

01-10-2019 | Obesity | Original Paper

Type 2 diabetes and obesity in midlife and breast cancer risk in the Reykjavik cohort

Authors: Gertraud Maskarinec, Álfheiður Haraldsdóttir, Kristjana Einarsdóttir, Thor Aspelund, Laufey Tryggvadóttir, Tamara B. Harris, Vilmundur Gudnason, Jóhanna E. Torfadóttir

Published in: Cancer Causes & Control | Issue 10/2019

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Abstract

Purpose

As obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) have been increasing worldwide, we investigated their association with breast cancer incidence in the Reykjavik Study.

Methods

During 1968–1996, approximately 10,000 women (mean age = 53 ± 9 years) completed questionnaires and donated blood samples. T2D status was classified according to self-report (n = 140) and glucose levels (n  = 154) at cohort entry. A linkage with the Icelandic Cancer Registry provided breast cancer incidence through 2015. Cox regression with age as time metric and adjusted for known confounders was applied to obtain hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results

Of 9,606 participants, 294 (3.1%) were classified as T2D cases at cohort entry while 728 (7.8%) women were diagnosed with breast cancer during 28.4 ± 11.6 years of follow-up. No significant association of T2D (HR 0.95; 95% CI 0.56–1.53) with breast cancer incidence was detected except among the small number of women with advanced breast cancer (HR 3.30; 95% CI 1.13–9.62). Breast cancer incidence was elevated among overweight/obese women without (HR 1.18; 95% CI 1.01–1.37) and with T2D (HR 1.35; 95% CI 0.79–2.31). Height also predicted higher breast cancer incidence (HR 1.03; 95% CI 1.02–1.05). All findings were confirmed in women of the AGES–Reykjavik sub-cohort (n  = 3,103) who returned for an exam during 2002–2006. With a 10% T2D prevalence and 93 incident breast cancer cases, the HR for T2D was 1.18 (95% CI 0.62–2.27).

Conclusions

These findings in a population with low T2D incidence suggest that the presence of T2D does not confer additional breast cancer risk and confirm the importance of height and excess body weight as breast cancer risk factors.
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Metadata
Title
Type 2 diabetes and obesity in midlife and breast cancer risk in the Reykjavik cohort
Authors
Gertraud Maskarinec
Álfheiður Haraldsdóttir
Kristjana Einarsdóttir
Thor Aspelund
Laufey Tryggvadóttir
Tamara B. Harris
Vilmundur Gudnason
Jóhanna E. Torfadóttir
Publication date
01-10-2019
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Cancer Causes & Control / Issue 10/2019
Print ISSN: 0957-5243
Electronic ISSN: 1573-7225
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-019-01213-y

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