Adiposity at Age 10 and Mammographic Density among Premenopausal Women

Abstract

Although childhood adiposity is inversely associated with breast cancer risk, the association of childhood adiposity with mammographic density in premenopausal women has not been adequately studied. We analyzed data from 365 premenopausal women who came in for screening mammography at Washington University (St. Louis, MO) from 2015 to 2016. Body size at age 10 was self-reported using somatotype pictogram. Body mass index (BMI) at age 10 was imputed using data from Growing Up Today Study. Volpara software was used to evaluate volumetric percent density (VPD), dense volume (DV), and nondense volume (NDV). Adjusted multivariable linear regression models were used to evaluate the associations between adiposity at age 10 and mammographic density measures. Adiposity at age 10 was inversely associated with VPD and positively associated with NDV. A 1 kg/m increase in BMI at age 10 was associated with a 6.4% decrease in VPD, and a 6.9% increase in NDV ( < 0.001). Compared with women whose age 10 body size was 1 or 2, women with body size 3 or 4 had a 16.8% decrease in VPD and a 26.6% increase in NDV, women with body size 5 had a 32.2% decrease in VPD and a 58.5% increase in NDV, and women with body sizes ≥6 had a 47.8% decrease in VPD and a 80.9% increase in NDV ( < 0.05). The associations were attenuated, but still significant after adjusting for current BMI. Mechanistic studies to understand how childhood adiposity influences breast development, mammographic density, and breast cancer in premenopausal women are needed. .

Childhood body size and midlife mammographic breast density in foreign-born and U.S.-born women in New York City

“…Possible measurement error in the assessment of childhood body size in our study, which relied on recalled body size at age 10 by women in their midlife, is a serious limitation. We used a pictogram, developed by Stunkard et al (29), and used in large studies of breast cancer risk and mammographic density (16,21), which has been shown to have less measurement error than recalled weight (47,48). A prior study reported a high correlation (0.70) between measured BMI at age 10 and recalled body size at age 10 using this pictogram in elderly adults (28).…”

“…Childhood and adolescent body size, which have been associated with lower premenopausal and postmenopausal breast cancer (12–14), may influence breast cancer risk by leaving their mark on breast tissue development and composition (15). The growing research on early life body size influences on adult MBD is characterized by an abundance of measurement methods for MBD and for early life body size as well as variation for the age at which body size is assessed (16–21). While collectively the evidence to date point to an inverse association between childhood body size and MBD in postmenopausal women, less is known about whether childhood body size and MBD associations are seen in premenopausal women, particularly across women that may have had different childhood environments.…”

Adiposity Change Over the Life Course and Mammographic Breast Density in Postmenopausal Women

“…For this study, the Stunkard 9-level figure pictogram was categorized into four groups: (i) body size 1 or 2; (ii) body size 3 or 4; (iii) body size 5; and (iv) body size 6 or higher. We estimated BMI at age 10 using BMI and Stunkard pictograms, both provided at age 10, from the Growing Up Today Study (21,22). Because the Stunkard 9-level figure somatotype pictogram for girls in the Growing Up Today Study ranged from 1 to only 7, we did not compute BMI at age 10 for 10 women in our study, whose body sizes at age 10 were larger than 7 (8 or 9).…”

Circulating Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-κB (RANK), RANK ligand (RANKL), and Mammographic Density in Premenopausal Women

“…We recruited 383 premenopausal women who were scheduled for an annual screening mammography at the Joanne Knight Breast Health Center at the Washington University School of Medicine, and Siteman Cancer Center, St. Louis, MO in 2016. Detailed description of the study population has been provided previously (22). Complete mammographic density data and blood samples were available for 375 women.…”