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Height, age at menarche and risk of hormone receptor-positive and -negative breast cancer: A cohort study.
Ritte, Rebecca 1; Lukanova, Annekatrin 1; Tjnneland, Anne 2[phi]; Olsen, Anja 2; Overvad, Kim 3; Mesrine, Sylvie 4,5; Fagherazzi, Guy 4,5; Dossus, Laure 4,5; Teucher, Birgit 1; Steindorf, Karen 6,7; Boeing, Heiner 8; Aleksandrova, Krasimira 8; Trichopoulou, Antonia 9,10; Lagiou, Pagona 9,11,12; Trichopoulos, Dimitrios 11,12; Palli, Domenico 13; Grioni, Sara 14; Mattiello, Amalia 15; Tumino, Rosario 16; Sacerdote, Carlotta 17,18; Quiros, Jose Ramon 19; Buckland, Genevieve 20; Molina-Montes, Esther 21,22; Chirlaque, Maria-Dolores 22,23; Ardanaz, Eva 22,24; Amiano, Pilar 22,25; Bueno-de-Mesquita, Bas 26,27; van Duijnhoven, Franzel 28,29; van Gils, Carla H 30; Peeters, Petra HM 30,31; Wareham, Nick 32; Khaw, Kay-Tee 33; Key, Timothy J 34; Travis, Ruth C. 34; Krum-Hansen, Sanda 35; Gram, Inger Torhild 35; Lund, Eiliv 35; Sund, Malin 36; Andersson, Anne 37; Romieu, Isabelle 38; Rinaldi, Sabina 39; McCormack, Valerie 40; Riboli, Elio 41; Kaaks, Rudolf 1*
[Miscellaneous Article] International Journal Of Cancer. 132(11):2619-2629, June 1, 2013.

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: Associations of breast cancer overall with indicators of exposures during puberty are reasonably well characterized; however, uncertainty remains regarding the associations of height, leg length, sitting height and menarcheal age with hormone receptor-defined malignancies. Within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition cohort, Cox proportional hazards models were used to describe the relationships of adult height, leg length and sitting height and age at menarche with risk of estrogen and progesterone receptor negative (ER-PR-) (n = 990) and ER PR (n = 3,524) breast tumors. Height as a single risk factor was compared to a model combining leg length and sitting height. The possible interactions of height, leg length and sitting height with menarche were also analyzed. Risk of both ER-PR- and ER PR malignancies was positively associated with standing height, leg length and sitting height and inversely associated with increasing age at menarche. For ER PR disease, sitting height (hazard ratios: 1.14[95% confidence interval: 1.08-1.20]) had a stronger risk association than leg length (1.05[1.00-1.11]). In comparison, for ER-PR- disease, no distinct differences were observed between leg length and sitting height. Women who were tall and had an early menarche (<=13 years) showed an almost twofold increase in risk of ER PR tumors but no such increase in risk was observed for ER-PR- disease. Indicators of exposures during rapid growth periods were associated with risks of both HR-defined breast cancers. Exposures during childhood promoting faster development may establish risk associations for both HR-positive and -negative malignancies. The stronger associations of the components of height with ER PR tumors among older women suggest possible hormonal links that could be specific for postmenopausal women.

What's new?: Adult height and early age at menarche are established risk factors for breast cancer. In this study, the authors examined these factors in relation to the hormone-receptor status of breast tumors, with height divided into leg length vs. sitting height. They found that women who were tall and had an early menarche (<=13 years) had almost double the risk of developing estrogen/progesterone-positive (ER PR ) tumors. Leg length and early menarche were also associated with increased risk for receptor-negative (ER-PR-) tumors. In addition, the data suggest possible hormonal links that could be specific for postmenopausal women.