ArticleBreast cancer research : BCR2014
Birth weight, childhood body mass index, and height in relation to mammographic density and breast cancer: a register-based cohort study.
Article in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 110 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lifecourse genome-wide association study meta-analysis refines the critical life stages for adiposity's influence on breast cancer risk.Science advances · 2026Pooled it
- How does weight gain since the age of 18 years affect breast cancer risk in later life? A meta-analysis.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2024Pooled it
- Association of childhood and adolescence obesity with incidence and mortality of adulthood cancers. A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Pooled it
- Early-life body mass index and risks of breast, endometrial, and ovarian cancers: a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies.British journal of cancer · 2022Pooled it
- Pre-natal exposures and breast tissue composition: findings from a British pre-birth cohort of young women and a systematic review.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2016Pooled it
- Relationship Between Breast Density and Selective Estrogen-Receptor Modulators, Aromatase Inhibitors, Physical Activity, and Diet: A Systematic Review.Integrative cancer therapies · 2016Pooled it
- Birth weight and adult cancer incidence: large prospective study and meta-analysis.Annals of oncology : official journal of the European Society for Medical Oncology · 2014Pooled it
- Early Life Body Fatness, Serum Anti-Müllerian Hormone, and Breast Density in Young Adult Women.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2016Trial
- Adolescent endogenous sex hormones and breast density in early adulthood.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2015Trial
- Height and bone mineral density are associated with naevus count supporting the importance of growth in melanoma susceptibility.PloS one · 2015Trial
- Association between trajectories of body fatness during childhood and puberty and post-pubertal breast composition in the growth and obesity Chilean cohort study.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2026Article
- Investigating the relationship between breast cancer risk factors and an AI-generated mammographic texture feature in the Nurses' Health Study II.NPJ breast cancer · 2025Article
- Lifecourse Growth and Development Determinants of Mammographic Density in Black Women.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2024Article
- Association between breastfeeding, mammographic density, and breast cancer risk: a review.International breastfeeding journal · 2024Review
- Lifetime employment trajectories and cancer.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- The Prospective Association between Early Life Growth and Breast Density in Young Adult Women.Cancers · 2024Article
- Mammographic density mediates the protective effect of early-life body size on breast cancer risk.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Association between Family History of Breast Cancer and Breast Density in Saudi Premenopausal Women Participating in Mammography Screening.Clinics and practice · 2024Article
- Early life body size and puberty markers as predictors of breast cancer risk later in life: A neural network analysis.PloS one · 2024Article
- Socioeconomic Status at Birth and Breast Tissue Composition in Adolescence and Adulthood.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionHigh breast density, a strong predictor of breast cancer may be determined early in life. Childhood anthropometric factors have been related to breast cancer and breast density, but rarely simultaneously. We examined whether mammographic density (MD) mediates an association of birth weight, childhood body mass index (BMI), and height with the risk of breast cancer.
methods13,572 women (50 to 69 years) in the Copenhagen mammography screening program (1991 through 2001) with childhood anthropometric measurements in the Copenhagen School Health Records Register were followed for breast cancer until 2010. With logistic and Cox regression models, we investigated associations among birth weight, height, and BMI at ages 7 to 13 years with MD (mixed/dense or fatty) and breast cancer, respectively.
results8,194 (60.4%) women had mixed/dense breasts, and 716 (5.3%) developed breast cancer. Childhood BMI was significantly inversely related to having mixed/dense breasts at all ages, with odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) ranging from 0.69 (0.66 to 0.72) at age 7 to 0.56 (0.53 to 0.58) at age 13, per one-unit increase in z-score. No statistically significant associations were detected between birth weight and MD, height and MD, or birth weight and breast cancer risk. BMI was inversely associated with breast cancer, with hazard ratios of 0.91 (0.83 to 0.99) at age 7 and 0.92 (0.84 to 1.00) at age 13, whereas height was positively associated with breast cancer risk (age 7, 1.06 (0.98 to 1.14) and age 13, 1.08 (1.00 to 1.16)). After additional adjustment for MD, associations of BMI with breast cancer diminished (age 7, 0.97 (0.88 to 1.06) and age 13, 1.01 (0.93 to 1.11)), but remained with height (age 7, 1.06 (0.99 to 1.15) and age 13, 1.09 (1.01 to 1.17)).
conclusionsAmong women 50 years and older, childhood body fatness was inversely associated with the breast cancer risk, possibly via a mechanism mediated by MD, at least partially. Childhood tallness was positively associated with breast cancer risk, seemingly via a pathway independent of MD. Birth weight was not associated with MD or breast cancer in this age group.
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