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Purpose: Mechanistic and observational data together support a role for prolactin in breast cancer development. Determinants of prolactin in Asian populations have not been meaningfully explored, despite the lower risk of breast cancer in Asian populations.Methods: Determinants of plasma prolactin were evaluated in 442 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a population-based prospective cohort study. At baseline all cohort members completed an in-person interview that elicited information on diet, menstrual and reproductive history, and lifestyle factors. One year after cohort initiation we began collecting blood samples. Quantified were plasma concentrations of prolactin, estrone, estradiol, testosterone, androstenedione, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Analysis of covariance method was used for statistical analyses with age at blood draw, time since last meal, and time at blood draw as covariates.Results: Mean prolactin levels were 25.1% lower with older age at menarche (p value = 0.001), and 27.6% higher with greater years between menarche and menopause (p value = 0.009). Prolactin levels were also positively associated with increased sleep duration (p value = 0.005). The independent determinants of prolactin were years from menarche to menopause, hours of sleep, and the plasma hormones estrone and SHBG (all p values < 0.01).Conclusion: The role of prolactin in breast cancer development may involve reproductive and lifestyle factors, such as a longer duration of menstrual cycling and sleep patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The 2014 US Surgeon General's report noted research gaps necessary to determine a causal relationship between active cigarette smoking and invasive breast cancer risk, including the role of alcohol consumption, timing of exposure, modification by menopausal status and heterogeneity by oestrogen receptor (ER) status.Methods: To address these issues, we pooled data from 14 cohort studies contributing 934 681 participants (36 060 invasive breast cancer cases). Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to calculate multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: Smoking duration before first birth was positively associated with risk ( P -value for trend = 2 × 10 -7 ) with the highest HR for initiation >10 years before first birth (HR = 1.18, CI 1.12-1.24). Effect modification by current alcohol consumption was evident for the association with smoking duration before first birth ( P -value=2×10 -4 ); compared with never-smoking non-drinkers, initiation >10 years before first birth was associated with risk in every category of alcohol intake, including non-drinkers (HR = 1.15, CI 1.04-1.28) and those who consumed at least three drinks per day (1.85, 1.55-2.21). Associations with smoking before first birth were limited to risk of ER+ breast cancer ( P -value for homogeneity=3×10 -3 ). Other smoking timing and duration characteristics were associated with risk even after controlling for alcohol, but were not associated with risk in non-drinkers. Effect modification by menopause was not evident.Conclusions: Smoking, particularly if initiated before first birth, was modestly associated with ER+ breast cancer risk that was not confounded by amount of adult alcohol intake. Possible links with breast cancer provide additional motivation for young women to not initiate smoking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is experimental evidence that calcium protects against breast cancer development. Prospective epidemiologic studies supporting a protective effect of calcium on breast cancer risk have mainly been limited to Western populations. We examined the association between calcium intake and breast cancer risk in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a large population-based prospective cohort. Calcium intake and supplement use was assessed by in-person interviewer using a validated food frequency questionnaire. After a mean follow-up of 14.2±3.5 years, 823 cohort participants developed invasive breast cancer. Multivariate proportional hazards regression models were fitted to examine the associations between calcium intake and breast cancer risk. Vegetables were the primary food source of calcium in this study population, followed by dairy products, grains and soy foods. Calcium intake was not associated with breast cancer risk, comparing highest quartile (>345.6 mg/1,000 kcal/day) to lowest quartile (<204.5 mg/1,000 kcal/day) of intake. There was no evidence of effect modification by menopausal status, body mass index, dietary vitamin D or stage of disease at diagnosis. Our findings do not support a hypothesis for calcium in breast cancer chemoprevention, contrary to findings from previous studies among Western populations with higher calcium intake primarily from dairy products and supplements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One potential mechanism by which physical activity may protect against breast cancer is by decreasing mammographic density. Percent mammographic density, the proportion of dense breast tissue area to total breast area, declines with age and is a strong risk factor for breast cancer. The authors hypothesized that women who were more physically active would have a greater decline in percent mammographic density with age, compared with less physically active women. The authors tested this hypothesis using longitudinal data (1996–2004) from 722 participants in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), a multiethnic cohort of women who were pre- and early perimenopausal at baseline, with multivariable, repeated-measures linear regression analyses. During an average of 5.6 years, the mean annual decline in percent mammographic density was 1.1% (standard deviation = 0.1). A 1-unit increase in total physical activity score was associated with a weaker annual decline in percent mammographic density by 0.09% (standard error = 0.03; P = 0.01). Physical activity was inversely associated with the change in nondense breast area (P < 0.01) and not associated with the change in dense breast area (P = 0.17). Study results do not support the hypothesis that physical activity reduces breast cancer through a mechanism that includes reduced mammographic density. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study which determines the relation of physical activity (PA) and mammographic density in a cohort of middle-aged women. The researchers used multivariable linear regression to examine the association between two measures of mammographic density and mutually exclusive components of PA like sports, household activity, and active living. Results indicate that there is a nonsignificant inverse associations for percent mammographic density and the highest versus the lowest category of each PA domain.