Biology and Etiology of Young-Onset Breast Cancers among Premenopausal African American Women: Results from the AMBER Consortium

Citation

Chollet-Hinton, Lynn S.; Olshan, Andrew F.; Nichols, Hazel B.; Anders, Carey K.; Lund, Jennifer L.; Allott, Emma H.; Bethea, Traci N.; Hong, Chi-Chen; Cohen, Stephanie M.; & Khoury, Thaer, et al. (2017). Biology and Etiology of Young-Onset Breast Cancers among Premenopausal African American Women: Results from the AMBER Consortium. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 26(12), 1722-1729. PMCID: PMC5903207

Abstract

BACKGROUND: African American (AA) women have higher incidence of aggressive, young-onset (<40 years) breast cancers. Young- and older-onset disease may have distinct tumor biologies and etiologies; however, studies investigating age differences among AA women have been rare and generally underpowered.
METHODS: We examined tumor characteristics and breast cancer risk factors associated with premenopausal young (<40) vs. older (>/=40) AA women's breast cancer in the African American Breast Cancer Epidemiology and Risk Consortium (2,008 cases and 5,144 controls). Unconditional logistic regression models assessed heterogeneity of tumor biology and risk factor associations by age, overall and by estrogen receptor status.
RESULTS: Premenopausal AA women <40 years had higher frequency of poorer-prognosis tumor characteristics compared to older women, including negative estrogen and progesterone receptor status, triple-negative subtype, high grade, higher stage, and larger tumors. Adiposity (i.e., waist-to-hip ratio) and family history of breast cancer were more strongly associated with young-onset disease (case-control OR=1.46, 95% CI=1.04,2.05; OR=3.10, 95% CI=2.08,4.63, respectively) compared to older-onset disease (OR=1.11, 95% CI=0.91,1.35; OR=1.57, 95% CI=1.26,1.94). Breastfeeding showed a slight inverse risk association among young women (OR=0.70, 95% CI=0.43,1.16). Oral contraceptive use was associated with increased risk regardless of age. Considering various cutpoints for young age (<40, <45, <50), age-related heterogeneity was greatest when <40 was used.
CONCLUSIONS: Among premenopausal AA women, diagnosis before age 40 is associated with more aggressive breast tumor biology and some etiologic differences.
IMPACT: Modifiable risk factors including breastfeeding, adiposity, and oral contraceptive use may be important targets for mitigating harms of young-onset breast cancer.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1158/1055-9965.epi-17-0450

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2017

Journal Title

Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention

Author(s)

Chollet-Hinton, Lynn S.
Olshan, Andrew F.
Nichols, Hazel B.
Anders, Carey K.
Lund, Jennifer L.
Allott, Emma H.
Bethea, Traci N.
Hong, Chi-Chen
Cohen, Stephanie M.
Khoury, Thaer
Zirpoli, Gary R.
Borges, Virginia F.
Rosenberg, Lynn A.
Bandera, Elisa V.
Ambrosone, Christine B.
Palmer, Julie R.
Troester, Melissa A.

PMCID

PMC5903207

ORCiD

Olshan - 0000-0001-9115-5128