Thompson W D, Janerich D T
Department of Applied Medical Sciences, University of Southern Maine, Portland 04103.
Epidemiology. 1990 Mar;1(2):101-6. doi: 10.1097/00001648-199003000-00004.
Data from a large case-control study of breast cancer were examined to test the hypothesis that maternal age at the birth of female offspring is related to the incidence of breast cancer in daughters. Participants were between the ages of 20 and 54 at the time of the study. Based on results for 2,492 parous women who were newly diagnosed with breast cancer and 2,687 parous controls from the general population, a 15-year increase in maternal age was found to be associated with a 29% increase in the risk of breast cancer in daughters. Adjustment for the daughter's age, her own reproductive history, and other potential confounding factors yielded an estimate of 25% for this increase in risk (95% CI, 8% to 46%). The corresponding increase among 499 nulliparous cases and 457 nulliparous controls was 7%, which was not statistically significantly different in magnitude from the increase among parous women. These findings provide evidence for perinatal influences on the subsequent incidence of breast cancer during adulthood. Although specific mechanisms cannot be inferred directly, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that mutations in the genes of the human egg or sperm play a role in the etiology of breast cancer in female offspring.
对一项大型乳腺癌病例对照研究的数据进行了分析，以检验女性后代出生时母亲年龄与女儿患乳腺癌发病率相关这一假设。研究时参与者年龄在20至54岁之间。基于2492名新诊断为乳腺癌的经产妇和2687名来自普通人群的经产妇对照的结果，发现母亲年龄增加15岁与女儿患乳腺癌风险增加29%相关。对女儿的年龄、其自身的生育史以及其他潜在混杂因素进行调整后，该风险增加的估计值为25%（95%可信区间，8%至46%）。499名未生育病例和457名未生育对照中的相应增加为7%，在幅度上与经产妇中的增加无统计学显著差异。这些发现为围产期对成年期后续乳腺癌发病率的影响提供了证据。尽管无法直接推断具体机制，但结果与人类卵子或精子基因中的突变在女性后代乳腺癌病因中起作用这一假设一致。
