Lactation and breast cancer risk.
Journal Article
BACKGROUND: Data from the Carolina Breast Cancer Study, a population-based, case-control study of breast cancer in African-American and white women residents of North Carolina, were evaluated to determine whether specific aspects of lactation are associated with a reduction in the risk of breast cancer. METHODS: Analyses included 751 parous cases and 742 parous controls frequency-matched on age and race. Information on lactation, reproductive history, lifestyle characteristics and family history were obtained through a personal interview. RESULTS: When women who breastfed were compared to those who never breastfed, odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals of 0.8 (0.5-1.1) and 0.7 (0.5-0.9) were found for women 20-49 years and 50-74 years, respectively. Similar inverse associations were observed for each of three categories of lifetime duration (1-3, 4-12, 13+ months). The inverse associations persisted and did not vary when number of children breastfed, ages at first and last lactation and lactational amenorrhoea were examined. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that any lactation, regardless of duration or timing, is associated with a slight reduction in the risk of breast cancer among younger and older parous women.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Furberg, H; Newman, B; Moorman, P; Millikan, R
Published Date
- June 1999
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 28 / 3
Start / End Page
- 396 - 402
PubMed ID
- 10405840
Pubmed Central ID
- 10405840
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0300-5771
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1093/ije/28.3.396
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- England