Body silhouette, menstrual function at adolescence and breast cancer risk in the E3N cohort study

We analysed the relation between adult breast cancer risk and adiposity in ages 8–25, and among 90 509 women included in the E3N cohort study, and investigated the potential modification effect of certain factors. Participants completed a questionnaire that included a set of eight silhouettes corresponding to body shape at different ages. During the follow-up (mean=11.4 years), 3491 breast cancer cases were identified. Negative trends in risk of breast cancer with increasing body silhouettes at age 8 and at menarche were observed, irrespective of menopausal status, with relative risks of 0.73 (0.53–0.99) and 0.82 (0.66–1.02) for women who reported a silhouette equal or greater than the fifth silhouette at age 8 and at menarche, respectively. We observed no clear effect modification by age at menarche, delay between age at menarche, regular cycling, regularity of cycles in adult life or body mass index at baseline

Predicting Diabetes: Clinical, Biological, and Genetic Approaches: Data from the Epidemiological Study on the Insulin Resistance Syndrome (DESIR)

OBJECTIVE—To provide a simple clinical diabetes risk score and to identify characteristics that predict later diabetes using variables available in the clinic setting as well as biological variables and polymorphisms

Cross-sectional associations between air pollution and chronic bronchitis: an ESCAPE meta-analysis across five cohorts

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to assess associations of outdoor air pollution on prevalence of chronic bronchitis symptoms in adults in five cohort studies (Asthma-E3N, ECRHS, NSHD, SALIA, SAPALDIA) participating in the European Study of Cohorts for Air Pollution Effects (ESCAPE) project. METHODS: Annual average particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5, PMabsorbance, PMcoarse), NO2, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and road traffic measures modelled from ESCAPE measurement campaigns 2008-2011 were assigned to home address at most recent assessments (1998-2011). Symptoms examined were chronic bronchitis (cough and phlegm for ≥3 months of the year for ≥2 years), chronic cough (with/without phlegm) and chronic phlegm (with/without cough). Cohort-specific cross-sectional multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted using common confounder sets (age, sex, smoking, interview season, education), followed by meta-analysis. RESULTS: 15 279 and 10 537 participants respectively were included in the main NO2 and PM analyses at assessments in 1998-2011. Overall, there were no statistically significant associations with any air pollutant or traffic exposure. Sensitivity analyses including in asthmatics only, females only or using back-extrapolated NO2 and PM10 for assessments in 1985-2002 (ECRHS, NSHD, SALIA, SAPALDIA) did not alter conclusions. In never-smokers, all associations were positive, but reached statistical significance only for chronic phlegm with PMcoarse OR 1.31 (1.05 to 1.64) per 5 µg/m(3) increase and PM10 with similar effect size. Sensitivity analyses of older cohorts showed increased risk of chronic cough with PM2.5abs (black carbon) exposures. CONCLUSIONS: Results do not show consistent associations between chronic bronchitis symptoms and current traffic-related air pollution in adult European populations

Intragenic ATM Methylation in Peripheral Blood DNA as a Biomarker of Breast Cancer Risk

Few studies have evaluated the association between DNA methylation in white blood cells (WBC) and the risk of breast cancer. The evaluation of WBC DNA methylation as a biomarker of cancer risk is of particular importance as peripheral blood is often available in prospective cohorts and easier to obtain than tumor or normal tissues. Here, we used prediagnostic blood samples from three studies to analyze WBC DNA methylation of two ATM intragenic loci (ATMmvp2a and ATMmvp2b) and genome-wide DNA methylation in long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE1) repetitive elements. Samples were from a case-control study derived from a cohort of high-risk breast cancer families (KConFab) and nested case-control studies in two prospective cohorts: Breakthrough Generations Study (BGS) and European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Bisulfite pyrosequencing was used to quantify methylation from 640 incident cases of invasive breast cancer and 741 controls. Quintile analyses for ATMmvp2a showed an increased risk of breast cancer limited to women in the highest quintile [OR, 1.89; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.36-2.64; P = 1.64 x 10(-4)]. We found no significant differences in estimates across studies or in analyses stratified by family history or menopausal status. However, a more consistent association was observed in younger than in older women and individually significant in KConFab and BGS, but not EPIC. We observed no differences in LINE1 or ATMmvp2b methylation between cases and controls. Together, our findings indicate that WBC DNA methylation levels at ATM could be a marker of breast cancer risk and further support the pursuit of epigenome-wide association studies of peripheral blood DNA methylation. Cancer Res; 72(9); 2304-13. (C) 2012 AACR

Pregnancy postponement and childlessness leads to chronic hypervascularity of the breasts and cancer risk

Epidemiologists have established that women with small families, and particularly nulliparae, are prone to develop breast cancer later in life. We report that physiological mammary hypervascularity may be an intermediate reason against the background that breast-core vascularity is normal in pregnancy but pathological in the vascularisation of cancer. We examined breast ‘core’ vascularity in nulliparae during their potential reproductive life and in parous women after their last birth but before their menopause. Fifty clinically normal pre-menopausal non-pregnant women (100 breasts) were studied daily for one ‘luteal positive’ menstrual cycle. Their parity history varied from zero to five babies. Under controlled domestic conditions each wore a special electronic thermometric bra to automatically record breast ‘core’ temperature changes as a measure of mammary tissue blood flow. In the nulliparae there was a rise of breast vascularity throughout reproductive life. In the parous women, a year or so after each birth, breast vascularity was reset at a lower level than before the pregnancy; thereafter, as in nulliparae, there was progressive increase in mammary vascularity until the menopause

Physical activity of subjects aged 50–64 years involved in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)

Objective: To describe physical activity of participants in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC). Design: A cross-sectional analysis of baseline data of a European prospective cohort study. Subjects: This analysis was restricted to participants in the age group 50-64 years, which was represented in all EPIC centres. It involved 236 386 participants from 25 centres in nine countries. In each EPIC centre, physical activity was assessed by standardised and validated questions. Frequency distribution of type of professional activity and participation in non-professional activities, and age-adjusted means, medians and percentiles of time dedicated to non-professional activities are presented for men and women from each centre. Results: Professional activity was most frequently classified as sedentary or standing in all centres. There was a wide variation regarding participation in different types of non-professional activities and time dedicated to these activities across EPIC centres. Over 80% of all EPIC participants engaged in walking, while less than 50% of the subjects participated in sport. Total time dedicated to recreational activities was highest among the Dutch participants and lowest among men from Malmo (Sweden) and women from Naples (Italy). In all centres, total time dedicated to recreational activity in the summer was higher than in the winter. Women from southern Europe spent the most time on housekeeping. Conclusions: There is a considerable variation of physical activity across EPIC centres. This variation was especially evident for recreational activities in both men and women