Birth weight and adult cancer incidence: large prospective study and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Most evidence about associations between birth weight and adult cancer risk comes from studies linking birth records to cancer registration data, where information on known risk factors for cancer is generally lacking. Here, we report on associations between birth weight and cause-specific cancer risk in a large cohort of UK women, and investigate how observed associations are affected by other factors.

Methods

A total of 453 023 women, born in the 1930s and 1940s, reported their birth weight, maternal smoking, parental heights, age at menarche, adult height, adult smoking, and many other personal characteristics. They were followed for incident cancer. Using Cox regression, relative risks by birth weight were estimated for cancers with more than 1500 incident cas

SUBMITTER: Yang TO 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4143092 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature