Television Viewing Time and Breast Cancer Incidence or Japanese Premenopausal and Postmenopausal Women : The JACC Study

Purpose The evidence on effects of TV viewing time among premenopausal and postmenopausal women for breast cancer risk remains controversial and limited. Materials and Methods A prospective study encompassing 33,276 (17,568 premenopausal, and 15,708 postmenopausal) women aged 40-79 years in whom TV viewing time, menstrual, and reproductive histories were determined by a self-administered questionnaire. The follow-up was from 1988 to 2009 and hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (as) of breast cancer incidence were calculated for longer TV viewing time in reference to shorter TV viewing time by Cox proportional hazard models. Results During 16.8-year median follow-up, we found positive associations between TV viewing time and breast cancer incidence with a borderline significant trend among total women and a significant trend among postmenopausal women. Among total women, the multivariable HRs (95% Cis) for risk of breast cancer in reference to = 4.5 hr/day (p for trend=0.053) and among postmenopausal women, the corresponding risk estimates were 1.10 (0.42-2.88), 2.54 (1.11-5.80), and 2.37 (0.926.10) (p for trend=0.009), respectively. Conclusion Prolonged TV viewing time was associated with increased risk of breast cancer, especially among postmenopausal women