Reproductive Pattern of Parous Women and the Risk of Cancer in Later Life

Abstract

We assessed the risk of any and site-specific cancers in a case-control study of parous women living in northeast Scotland in relation to: total number of pregnancies, cumulative time pregnant, age at first delivery and interpregnancy interval. We analysed 6430 women with cancer and 6430 age-matched controls. After adjustment for confounders, women with increasing number of pregnancies had similar odds of cancer diagnosis as women with only one pregnancy. The adjusted odds of cancer diagnosis were no higher in women with cumulative pregnancy time 50–150 weeks compared to those pregnant ≤ 50 weeks. Compared with women who had their first delivery at or before 20 years of age, the adjusted odds ratio (AOR) among those aged 21–25 years was 0.81, 95% CI 0.74, 0.88; 26–30 years AOR 0.77, 95% CI 0.69, 0.86; >30 years AOR 0.63, 95% CI 0.55, 0.73. After adjustment, the odds of having any cancer were higher in women who had an inter-pregnancy interval >3 years compared to those with no subsequent pregnancy (AOR 1.17, 95% CI 1.05, 1.30). Older age at first pregnancy was associated with increased risk of breast and gastrointestinal cancer, and reduced risk of invasive cervical, carcinoma in situ of the cervix and respiratory cancer.

Novel breast cancer risk factors in Nigeria: the findings of Nigerian breast cancer risk factor study

“…The relationship between an average interpregnancy gap and breast cancer risk has been reported only in a few analytical studies globally. However, our findings among all women were consistent with the increased risk of breast cancer associated with a longer interpregnancy gap compared with a shorter interpregnancy gap in the available studies [6][7][8]. A Finnish study has observed that the increased risk of breast cancer associated with a longer average interpregnancy gap may be more applicable to lobular breast cancer (than ductal breast cancer), especially among older women [7].…”

“…However, the potential roles of alcohol consumption and family history of breast cancer breast cancer have not been widely studied in Nigeria. Moreover, while some studies in other parts of the world have investigated the potential roles of interpregnancy gap and exposure to light at night [6][7][8][9][10], no African study has reported such observation to the best of our knowledge. The aim of this study was to carry out a exploratory investigation of the relationship between frequency of light exposure at night (LEAN), interpregnancy gap, alcohol consumption family history of breast cancer and the risk of breast cancer among Nigerian women based on data from the NBRS [3,5].…”

Pattern and predictors of cervical epithelial cell abnormalities among unscreened and under-screened women in Lagos, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

“…Age at first childbirth significantly predicted the occurrence of CECA in our study. This is consistent with its association with CCa [ 47 ]. The likelihood of developing CECA was approximately six times higher among women who had their first childbirth below 26 years compared to those above that age.…”

A novel lipid metabolism-related lncRNA signature predictive of clinical prognosis in cervical cancer

“…It is suggested in some published literature that increased pregnancies and BMI could raise the risk for CC ( Lima et al, 2006 ; Clark et al, 2016 ; Kim et al, 2021 ; Pasdar et al, 2021 ). Although no significant difference was found in pregnancy and BMI as independent risk factor in our above-mentioned analysis, their survival analyses were performed along with the clinical stage.…”