Risk factors, mediators, and biomarkers related to development of premenopausal breast cancer

Emerging research suggests that exposures occurring during pregnancy can pose risks to a woman’s health. One example is the risk of developing breast cancer, which is increased for up to 20-years postpartum.

The purpose of this project is to identify pregnancy exposures and biomarkers, that are associated with premenopausal breast cancer, or that could function as mediators between exposure and cancer development.To achieve this, three aims are included.

In the first, we will identify environmental exposures, occurring during pregnancy, associated with premenopausal breast cancer.

This includes assessment of both nation-wide exposures (air pollution, traffic noise and green spaces) and individually measured levels of environmental chemicals in blood.

In the second aim we will identify risk factors that may have a mediating role between exposure and cancer development such as lactation length and breast density.

This will be done in a new cohort consisting of women recruited at mammography screening, for which detailed information on pregnancy exposures exists.

The third aim focuses on identifying biomarkers in blood samples (collected during pregnancy and at 40-years of age) and assess their associations with exposure profiles and cancer risk.The planned research is of importance as it may result in better identification of high-risk women and future reduction of risk factors from the environment, which could have a major impact on breast cancer incidence.