ArticleBreast cancer research : BCR2014
Timing of pubertal stages and breast cancer risk: the Breakthrough Generations 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. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 92 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
92 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 166 citations in OpenAlex.
- Early menarche and breast cancer risk: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 74 case-control studies.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2026Pooled it
- The Effect of Leuprolide Acetate 11.25 mg 3-Month Formulation in Children with Central Precocious Puberty: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Advances in therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Intake of dietary carbohydrates in early adulthood and adolescence and breast density among young women.Cancer causes & control : CCC · 2018Trial
- Protein profiling reveals consequences of lifestyle choices on predicted biological aging.Scientific reports · 2015Trial
- Adolescent endogenous sex hormones and breast density in early adulthood.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2015Trial
- Steroids, stress, and body mass index interact to accelerate female pubertal development.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2026Article
- Age-Specific Trends in Carcinoma Incidence Among Adolescents and Young Adults in the United States, 1975-2021.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- LifelongNutrients · 2026Article
- Effects of early menarche on adolescent health: a single-centre retrospective study.Pediatric endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism · 2026Article
- Field cancerization, accelerated aging, and immunosuppression: the rapid rise of hormone-sensitive and early-onset breast cancer.NPJ breast cancer · 2025Review
- Timing of puberty in girls and serum polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH)-albumin adduct levels: the California PAH Study.Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology · 2025Article
- Early thelarche, reproductive hormones, and MRI-based breast density: a prospective study in China.Breast cancer research : BCR · 2025Article
- Pubertal timing as a predictor of epigenetic aging and mortality risk in young adulthood.Developmental psychology · 2025Article
- Manganese-induced Precocious Puberty Alters Mammary Epithelial Cell Proliferation in Female Rats.Endocrinology · 2025Article
- Alternate-day fasting delays pubertal development in normal-weight mice but prevents high-fat diet-induced obesity and precocious puberty.Nutrition & diabetes · 2024Article
- Understanding the genetic complexity of puberty timing across the allele frequency spectrum.Nature genetics · 2024Article
- The Prospective Association between Early Life Growth and Breast Density in Young Adult Women.Cancers · 2024Article
- Biological Basis of Breast Cancer-Related Disparities in Precision Oncology Era.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- The Associations between Intakes of One-Carbon Metabolism-Related Vitamins and Breast Density among Young Women.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2024Article
32 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionBreast development and hormonal changes at puberty might affect breast cancer risk, but epidemiological analyses have focussed largely on age at menarche and not at other pubertal stages.
methodsWe investigated associations between the timing of pubertal stages and breast cancer risk using data from a cohort study of 104,931 women (Breakthrough Generations Study, UK, 2003-2013). Pubertal variables were reported retrospectively at baseline. Breast cancer risk was analysed using Cox regression models with breast cancer diagnosis as the outcome of interest, attained age as the underlying time variable, and adjustment for potentially confounding variables.
resultsDuring follow-up (mean = 4.1 years), 1094 breast cancers (including ductal carcinoma in situ) occurred. An increased breast cancer risk was associated with earlier thelarche (age when breast growth begins; HR [95% CI] = 1.23 [1.02, 1.48], 1 [referent] and 0.80 [0.69, 0.93] for ≤10, 11-12 and ≥13 years respectively), menarche (initiation of menses; 1.06 [0.93, 1.21], 1 [referent] and 0.78 [0.62, 0.99] for ≤12, 13-14 and ≥15 years), regular periods (0.99 [0.83, 1.18], 1 [referent] and 0.74 [0.59, 0.92] for ≤12, 13-14 and ≥15 years) and age reached adult height (1.25 [1.03, 1.52], 1 [referent] and 1.07 [0.87, 1.32] for ≤14, 15-16 and ≥17 years), and with increased time between thelarche and menarche (0.87 [0.65, 1.15], 1 [referent], 1.14 [0.96, 1.34] and 1.27 [1.04, 1.55] for <0, 0, 1 and ≥2 years), and shorter time between menarche and regular periods (1 [referent], 0.87 [0.73, 1.04] and 0.66 [0.50, 0.88] for 0, 1 and ≥2 years). These associations were generally similar when considered separately for premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer.
conclusionsBreast duct development may be a time of heightened susceptibility to risk of carcinogenesis, and greater attention needs to be given to the relation of breast cancer risk to the different stages of puberty.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.