Height and Breast Cancer Risk: Evidence From Prospective Studies and Mendelian Randomization.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Epidemiological studies have linked adult height with breast cancer risk in women. However, the magnitude of the association, particularly by subtypes of breast cancer, has not been established. Furthermore, the mechanisms of the association remain unclear.

METHODS:

We performed a meta-analysis to investigate associations between height and breast cancer risk using data from 159 prospective cohorts totaling 5216302 women, including 113178 events. In a consortium with individual-level data from 46325 case patients and 42482 control patients, we conducted a Mendelian randomization analysis using a genetic score that comprised 168 height-associated variants as an instrument. This association was further evaluated in a second consortium using summary statistics data from 16003 case patients and 41335 control patients.

RESULTS:

The pooled relative risk of breast cancer was 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.15 to 1.19) per 10cm increase in height in the meta-analysis of prospective studies. In Mendelian randomization analysis, the odds ratio of breast cancer per 10cm increase in genetically predicted height was 1.22 (95% CI = 1.13 to 1.32) in the first consortium and 1.21 (95% CI = 1.05 to 1.39) in the second consortium. The association was found in both premenopausal and postmenopausal women but restricted to hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. Analyses of height-associated variants identified eight new loci associated with breast cancer risk after adjusting for multiple comparisons, including three loci at 1q21.2, DNAJC27, and CCDC91 at genome-wide significance level P < 5×10(-8).

CONCLUSIONS:

Our study provides strong evidence that adult height is a risk factor for breast cancer in women and certain genetic factors and biological pathways affecting adult height have an important role in the etiology of breast cancer.

• Authors: Ben Zhang, Xiao-Ou Shu, Ryan J Delahanty, Chenjie Zeng, Kyriaki Michailidou, Manjeet K Bolla, Qin Wang, Joe Dennis, Wanqing Wen, Jirong Long, Chun Li, Alison M Dunning, Jenny Chang-Claude, Mitul Shah, Barbara J Perkins, Kamila Czene, Hatef Darabi, Mikael Eriksson, Stig E Bojesen, Børge G Nordestgaard, Sune F Nielsen, Henrik Flyger, Diether Lambrechts, Patrick Neven, Hans Wildiers, Giuseppe Floris, Marjanka K Schmidt, Matti A Rookus, Katja van den Hurk, Wim L A M de Kort, Fergus J Couch, Janet E Olson, Emily Hallberg, Celine Vachon, Anja Rudolph, Petra Seibold, Dieter Flesch-Janys, Julian Peto, Isabel Dos-Santos-Silva, Olivia Fletcher, Nichola Johnson, Heli Nevanlinna, Taru A Muranen, Kristiina Aittomäki, Carl Blomqvist, Jingmei Li, Keith Humphreys, Judith Brand, Pascal Guénel, Thérèse Truong, Emilie Cordina-Duverger, Florence Menegaux, Barbara Burwinkel, Frederik Marme, Rongxi Yang, Harald Surowy, Javier Benitez, M Pilar Zamora, Jose I A Perez, Angela Cox, Simon S Cross, Malcolm W R Reed, Irene L Andrulis, Julia A Knight, Gord Glendon, Sandrine Tchatchou, Elinor J Sawyer, Ian Tomlinson, Michael J Kerin, Nicola Miller, Georgia Chenevix-Trench, kConFab Investigators, Australian Ovarian Study Group, Christopher A Haiman, Brian E Henderson, Fredrick Schumacher, Loic Le Marchand, Annika Lindblom, Sara Margolin, Maartje J Hooning, John W M Martens, Madeleine M A Tilanus-Linthorst, J Margriet Collée, John L Hopper, Melissa C Southey, Helen Tsimiklis, Carmel Apicella, Susan Slager, Amanda E Toland, Christine B Ambrosone, Drakoulis Yannoukakos, Graham G Giles, Roger L Milne, Catriona McLean, Peter A Fasching, Lothar Haeberle, Arif B Ekici, Matthias W Beckmann, Hermann Brenner, Aida Karina Dieffenbach, Volker Arndt, Christa Stegmaier, Anthony J Swerdlow, Alan Ashworth, Nick Orr, Michael Jones, Jonine Figueroa, Montserrat Garcia-Closas, Louise Brinton, Jolanta Lissowska, Martine Dumont, Robert Winqvist, Katri Pylkäs, Arja Jukkola-Vuorinen, Mervi Grip, Hiltrud Brauch, Thomas Brüning, Yon-Dschun Ko, Paolo Peterlongo, Siranoush Manoukian, Bernardo Bonanni, Paolo Radice, Natalia Bogdanova, Natalia Antonenkova, Thilo Dörk, Arto Mannermaa, Vesa Kataja, Veli-Matti Kosma, Jaana M Hartikainen, Peter Devilee, Caroline Seynaeve, Christi J Van Asperen, Anna Jakubowska, Jan Lubiński, Katarzyna Jaworska-Bieniek, Katarzyna Durda, Ute Hamann, Diana Torres, Rita K Schmutzler, Susan L Neuhausen, Hoda Anton-Culver, Vessela N Kristensen, Grethe I Grenaker Alnæs, DRIVE Project, Brandon L Pierce, Peter Kraft, Ulrike Peters, Sara Lindstrom, Daniela Seminara, Stephen Burgess, Habibul Ahsan, Alice S Whittemore, Esther M John, Marilie D Gammon, Kathleen E Malone, Daniel C Tessier, Daniel Vincent, Francois Bacot, Craig Luccarini, Caroline Baynes, Shahana Ahmed, Mel Maranian, Catherine S Healey, Anna González-Neira, Guillermo Pita, M Rosario Alonso, Nuria Álvarez, Daniel Herrero, Paul D P Pharoah, Jacques Simard, Per Hall, David J Hunter, Douglas F Easton, Wei Zheng
• Journal: Journal of the National Cancer Institute (J Natl Cancer Inst) Vol. 107 Issue 11 (Nov 2015) ISSN: 1460-2105 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 26296642 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Meta-Analysis, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.)
• Copyright: © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: [email protected].

Topics

• Body Height
• Breast Neoplasms (epidemiology)
• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Female
• Humans
• Mendelian Randomization Analysis
• Odds Ratio
• Prospective Studies
• Risk Factors