Notes from the journals

Lifetime adult weight gain, central adiposity, and the risk of preand postmenopausal breast cancer in the Western New York exposures and breast cancer study Han D, Nie J, Bonner MR, et al. Int J Cancer 2006;119:2931–7 Introduction. Weight gain in adult life is more predict­ ive of risk for breast cancer than absolute body weight. Methods. Over 1000 women with primary, histo­ logically confirmed breast cancer were matched with 2000 controls of similar age, race and residence. Results. There was an increased risk of breast cancer associated with lifetime adult weight gain among post­ but not premenopausal women, with a 4% increase in risk for each 5 kg increase in adult weight. There was a stronger association for those with higher waist circum­ ference and those with positive estrogen or progesterone status, and who had never used hormone replacement therapy. There was also an association with risk for weight gain since first pregnancy and for weight gain between the time of the first pregnancy and menopause, independent of body mass index and lifetime adult weight gain.