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Physical activity and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

BRCA1/2 mutation carriers have a high lifetime risk of developing breast cancer. Differences in penetrance indicate that this risk may be influenced by lifestyle factors. Because physical activity is one of the few modifiable risk factors, it may provide a target to add to breast cancer prevention in this high-risk population. We examined the association between self-reported lifetime sports activity and breast cancer risk in a nationwide retrospective cohort study, including 725 carriers, of whom 218 had been diagnosed with breast cancer within 10 years prior to questionnaire completion. We found a nonsignificantly decreased risk for ever engaging in sports activity (HR = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.57–1.24). Among women who had participated in sports, a medium versus low level of intensity and duration (i.e., between 11.0 and 22.7 mean MET hours/week averaged over a lifetime) reduced the risk of breast cancer (HR = 0.59, 95%CI = 0.36–0.95); no dose–response trend was observed. For mean hours/week of sports activity, a nonsignificant trend was observed (HRlow versus never = 0.93, 95%CI = 0.60–1.43; HRmedium versus never = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.51–1.29; HRhigh versus never = 0.78, 95%CI = 0.48–1.29; p trend overall = 0.272; p trend active women = 0.487). For number of years of sports activity no significant associations were found. Among women active in sports before age 30, mean MET hours/week showed the strongest inverse association of all activity measures (HRmedium versus low = 0.60, 95%CI = 0.38–0.96; HRhigh versus low = 0.58, 95%CI = 0.35–0.94; p trend = 0.053). Engaging in sports activity after age 30 was also inversely associated with breast cancer risk (HR = 0.63, 95%CI = 0.44–0.91). Our results indicate that sports activity may reduce the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Dutch Cancer Society (grants NKI1998-1854, NKI2004-3088, NKI 2007-3756).

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Correspondence to Matti A. Rookus.

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The Netherlands Collaborative Group on Hereditary Breast Cancer (HEBON) is given in Appendix.

Appendix

Appendix

The Netherlands Collaborative Group on Hereditary Breast Cancer (HEBON): Coordinating center: Netherlands Cancer Institute, Amsterdam: Senno Verhoef, Anouk Pijpe, Richard Brohet, Frans Hogervorst, Laura van ‘t Veer, Flora van Leeuwen, Matti Rookus; Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam: Margriet Collée, Ans van den Ouweland, Mieke Kriege, Mieke Schutte, Maartje Hooning, Caroline Seynaeve; Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden: Christi van Asperen, Juul Wijnen, Peter Devilee; Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen: Nicoline Hoogerbrugge, Marjolijn Ligtenberg; University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht: Margreet Ausems, Rob van der Luijt; Amsterdam Medical Center: Cora Aalfs, Theo van Os; VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam: Hanne Meijers-Heijboer, Hans Gille; University Hospital Maastricht, Maastricht: Encarna Gomez-Garcia, Rien Blok; University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen: Jan Oosterwijk, Annemiek van der Hout; Netherlands Foundation for Detection of Hereditary Tumours, Leiden: Hans Vasen, Inge van Leeuwen.

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Pijpe, A., Manders, P., Brohet, R.M. et al. Physical activity and the risk of breast cancer in BRCA1/2 mutation carriers. Breast Cancer Res Treat 120, 235–244 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-009-0476-0

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