Early-Life Risk Factors for Breast Cancer – Prospective Follow-up in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966

Background: While some risk factors for breast cancer have been confirmed, less is known about the role of early biological and social risk factors for breast cancer in adult life. Methods: In a prospective follow-up in the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 consisting of 5,308 women, 120 breast cancers were reported via national registers by the end of 2018. Early risk factors were examined with univariate and multivariate analyses using Cox regression analysis. The main results are reported with HRs and their 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: In the multivariate-adjusted models, women whose mothers lived in urban areas (HR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.13–2.51) during pregnancy, were low educated (HR, 2.40; 95% CI, 1.30–4.45), and had been diagnosed with breast cancer (HR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.09–3.58) had a higher risk for breast cancer in adult life. Lower BMI at the age of 14 associated nonsignificantly with the risk of breast cancer (Mann–Whitney U test, P = 0.087). No association between birth size and breast cancer risk in adult life was found. Conclusions: Early-life residence and socioeconomic conditions may have an impact on developing breast cancer in women in adult life. All breast cancer cases of this study were relatively young, and most of them are assumed to be premenopausal. Impact: This study is one of a few prospective birth cohort studies to examine early-life socioeconomic factors and breast cancer risk in adult life. This study is limited due to small number of cases.