Birth size and subsequent risk for prostate cancer: A prospective population‐based study in Norway

Studies on birth size characteristics and adult risk for prostate cancer have been few and inconclusive. We prospectively examined the association between birth size and risk for prostate cancer with particular emphasis on metastatic disease. A total of 19,681 singleton males born between 1920 and 1958, whose birth records were kept at St. Olav's University Hospital (Trondheim, Norway), were followed up for prostate cancer by linkage to the Norwegian Cancer Registry. A total of 159 cases of prostate cancer were diagnosed during follow‐up; 33 had metastases at diagnosis. Overall, there was little evidence for any association between birth size and prostate cancer risk; however, there was a positive association for birth size and metastatic disease. Men in the highest quartile of birth length (≥53 cm) had a relative risk of 2.5 (95% CI 1.0–6.3) compared to men in the lowest quartile (<51 cm). Further, men in the highest quartile of both birth weight and birth length had a relative risk of 3.8 (95% CI 1.2–12.0) for metastatic prostate cancer compared to men in the lowest category of both factors. These results support the hypothesis that factors that determine intrauterine growth could be important for aggressive forms of prostate cancer in adulthood. © 2004 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

[1]  E. Rimm,et al.  Retrospective analysis of birth weight and prostate cancer in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. , 1998, American journal of epidemiology.

[2]  L. Lipworth,et al.  Is cancer causation simpler than we thought, but more intractable? , 1995, Epidemiology.

[3]  A. Folsom,et al.  Weight and length at birth and risk of early-onset prostate cancer (United States) , 2003, Cancer Causes and Control.

[4]  B. Henderson,et al.  The early in utero oestrogen and testosterone environment of blacks and whites: potential effects on male offspring. , 1988, British Journal of Cancer.

[5]  I. D. Silva,et al.  Birthweight, childhood growth and risk of breast cancer in a British cohort , 2000, British Journal of Cancer.

[6]  H. Adami,et al.  Duration of gestation and prostate cancer risk in offspring. , 2000, Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology.

[7]  S. Cnattingius,et al.  High birthweight as a predictor of prostate cancer risk. , 1995, Epidemiology.

[8]  H. Adami,et al.  Perinatal characteristics in relation to incidence of and mortality from prostate cancer , 1996, BMJ.

[9]  F. Speizer,et al.  Birthweight as a risk factor for breast cancer , 1997 .

[10]  B. Henderson,et al.  Do diet and androgens alter prostate cancer risk via a common etiologic pathway? , 1994, Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

[11]  F. Langmark,et al.  Quality of prostate cancer data in the cancer registry of Norway. , 1996, European journal of cancer.

[12]  V. McCormack,et al.  Fetal growth and subsequent risk of breast cancer: results from long term follow up of Swedish cohort , 2003, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[13]  T. Sørensen,et al.  Birth weight and risk of breast cancer in a cohort of 106,504 women , 2003, International journal of cancer.