Breast cancer risk is influenced by rare coding variants in susceptibility genes such as BRCA1 and many common, mainly non-coding variants. However, much of the genetic contribution to breast cancer risk remains unknown. We report results from a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of breast cancer in 122,977 cases and 105,974 controls of European ancestry and 14,068 cases and 13,104 controls of East Asian ancestry1. We identified 65 new loci associated with overall breast cancer at p<5x10-8. The majority of credible risk SNPs in the new loci fall in distal regulatory elements, and by integrating in-silico data to predict target genes in breast cells at each locus, we demonstrate a strong overlap between candidate target genes and somatic driver genes in breast tumours. We also find that heritability of breast cancer due to all SNPs in regulatory features was 2-5-fold enriched relative to the genome-wide average, with strong enrichment for particular transcription factor binding sites. These results provide further insight into genetic susceptibility to breast cancer and will improve the utility of genetic risk scores for individualized screening and prevention.

We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of breast cancer by genotyping 528,173 SNPs in 1,145 postmenopausal women of European ancestry with invasive breast cancer and 1,142 controls. We identified four SNPs in intron 2 of FGFR2 (which encodes a receptor tyrosine kinase and is amplified or overexpressed in some breast cancers) that were highly associated with breast cancer and confirmed this association in 1,776 affected individuals and 2,072 controls from three additional studies. Across the four studies, the association with all four SNPs was highly statistically significant (P(trend) for the most strongly associated SNP (rs1219648) = 1.1 x 10(-10); population attributable risk = 16%). Four SNPs at other loci most strongly associated with breast cancer in the initial GWAS were not associated in the replication studies. Our summary results from the GWAS are available online in a form that should speed the identification of additional risk loci.

Body weight and mortality from all causes were directly related among these middle-aged women. Lean women did not have excess mortality. The lowest mortality rate was observed among women who weighed at least 15 percent less than the U.S. average for women of similar age and among those whose weight had been stable since early adulthood.

Consistent but indirect evidence has implicated genetic factors in smoking behavior1,2. We report meta-analyses of several smoking phenotypes within cohorts of the Tobacco and Genetics Consortium (n = 74,053). We also partnered with the European Network of Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology (ENGAGE) and Oxford-GlaxoSmithKline (Ox-GSK) consortia to follow up the 15 most significant regions (n > 140,000). We identified three loci associated with number of cigarettes smoked per day. The strongest association was a synonymous 15q25 SNP in the nicotinic receptor gene CHRNA3 (rs1051730[A], β = 1.03, standard error (s.e.) = 0.053, P = 2.8 × 10−73). Two 10q25 SNPs (rs1329650[G], β = 0.367, s.e. = 0.059, P = 5.7 × 10−10; and rs1028936[A], β = 0.446, s.e. = 0.074, P = 1.3 × 10−9) and one 9q13 SNP in EGLN2 (rs3733829[G], β = 0.333, s.e. = 0.058, P = 1.0 × 10−8) also exceeded genome-wide significance for cigarettes per day. For smoking initiation, eight SNPs exceeded genome-wide significance, with the strongest association at a nonsynonymous SNP in BDNF on chromosome 11 (rs6265[C], odds ratio (OR) = 1.06, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 1.04–1.08, P = 1.8 × 10−8). One SNP located near DBH on chromosome 9 (rs3025343[G], OR = 1.12, 95% Cl 1.08–1.18, P = 3.6 × 10−8) was significantly associated with smoking cessation.

A B S T R A C T PurposeEndometrial cancers have long been divided into estrogen-dependent type I and the less common clinically aggressive estrogen-independent type II. Little is known about risk factors for type II tumors because most studies lack sufficient cases to study these much less common tumors separately. We examined whether so-called classical endometrial cancer risk factors also influence the risk of type II tumors. Patients and MethodsIndividual-level data from 10 cohort and 14 case-control studies from the Epidemiology of Endometrial Cancer Consortium were pooled. A total of 14,069 endometrial cancer cases and 35,312 controls were included. We classified endometrioid (n ϭ 7,246), adenocarcinoma not otherwise specified (n ϭ 4,830), and adenocarcinoma with squamous differentiation (n ϭ 777) as type I tumors and serous (n ϭ 508) and mixed cell (n ϭ 346) as type II tumors. ResultsParity, oral contraceptive use, cigarette smoking, age at menarche, and diabetes were associated with type I and type II tumors to similar extents. Body mass index, however, had a greater effect on type I tumors than on type II tumors: odds ratio (OR) per 2 kg/m 2 increase was 1.20 (95% CI, 1.19 to 1.21) for type I and 1.12 (95% CI, 1.09 to 1.14) for type II tumors (P heterogeneity Ͻ .0001). Risk factor patterns for high-grade endometrioid tumors and type II tumors were similar. ConclusionThe results of this pooled analysis suggest that the two endometrial cancer types share many common etiologic factors. The etiology of type II tumors may, therefore, not be completely estrogen independent, as previously believed.

The Nurses' Health Study was designed as a prospective follow-up study to examine relations between contraception and breast cancer. With follow-up questionnaires mailed every 2 years, investigators have added extensive details of lifestyle practices. The study, currently in its 20th year, has maintained high follow-up with > 90% of participants responding to each of the follow-up cycles since 1988. The relations between use of hormones, diet, exercise, and other lifestyle practices have been related to the development of a wide range of chronic illnesses among women. This review describes the methods used to follow up the study participants and summarizes the major findings that have been described over the first 20 years of the study. We highlight additional areas added to the study in recent years to address emerging issues in women's health. Special emphasis is placed on the recent findings from the study, including relations between weight gain and heart disease, diabetes, and mortality, the lack of relation between calcium and osteoporotic fractures, and the positive relation between postmenopausal use of hormones and risk of breast cancer.

To identify loci for age at menarche, we performed a meta-analysis of 32 genome-wide association studies in 87,802 women of European descent, with replication in up to 14,731 women. In addition to the known loci at LIN28B (P=5.4×10−60) and 9q31.2 (P=2.2×10−33), we identified 30 novel menarche loci (all P<5×10−8) and found suggestive evidence for a further 10 loci (P<1.9×10−6). New loci included four previously associated with BMI (in/near FTO, SEC16B, TRA2B and TMEM18), three in/near other genes implicated in energy homeostasis (BSX, CRTC1, and MCHR2), and three in/near genes implicated in hormonal regulation (INHBA, PCSK2 and RXRG). Ingenuity and MAGENTA pathway analyses identified coenzyme A and fatty acid biosynthesis as biological processes related to menarche timing.

The Nurses' Health Study has grown from a simple questionnaire-based study initiated in 1976 to a rich resource of information collected over 29 years. Important details about lifestyle have been collected throughout the study and, as the study has progressed, blood samples and DNA from buccal cells have been collected and stored. Tumour samples have also been collected from participants who developed cancer. Through analyses that integrate information from these various sources we are advancing our understanding of the causes of cancer and the potential for prevention.