Physical activity and breast cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort Study

Abstract

Purpose Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women and risk varies by race/ethnicity. Physical activity has been shown to reduce risk by 10–21% in White women but this reduction has not been established in other races/ethnicities. This study explores the association between physical activity and breast cancer risk in a large cohort of multiethnic women. Methods We analyzed data from 93,137 African American, White, Japanese American, Latina, and Native Hawaiian women who participated in the Hawaii-California Multiethnic Cohort Study. Data on physical activity (hours and METs) was based on a self-administered questionnaire at baseline (1993–1996) and a 10-year follow-up questionnaire (2003–2007). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models provided estimates of hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results We observed an inverse association between breast cancer risk and METs of total activity per day (HR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.87–0.98, P trend =0.01) but not for total hours of moderate/vigorous activity per day (HR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.89–1.02, P trend = 0.08) when comparing the highest quartile to the lowest in all women. After stratification, Latina women in the highest quartile of METs of total activity per day had a statistically significant reduction in breast cancer risk (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.72–0.98, P trend =0.05) compared to the lowest quartile. For others, HRs were below one for the highest METs quartile; there was no evidence of heterogeneity across race/ethnicity (p = 0.76). Conclusion This research confirms an overall protective association between physical activity and breast cancer risk, and suggests protection across races/ethnicities.

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BibTeX RIS

BibTeX

@misc{gill2026physical,
  title = {{Physical activity and breast cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort Study}},
  author = {Jasmeet K. Gill and Chloe Holm and Song-Yi Park and Yurii Shvetsov and Christopher Haiman and Lynne R. Wilkens and Loïc LeMarchand and Gertraud Maskarinec},
  howpublished = {Research Square},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.21203/rs.3.rs-11177770/v1},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-11177770/v1},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}

RIS

TY  - UNPB
TI  - Physical activity and breast cancer in the Multiethnic Cohort Study
AU  - Jasmeet K. Gill
AU  - Chloe Holm
AU  - Song-Yi Park
AU  - Yurii Shvetsov
AU  - Christopher Haiman
AU  - Lynne R. Wilkens
AU  - Loïc LeMarchand
AU  - Gertraud Maskarinec
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/26
PB  - Research Square
DO  - 10.21203/rs.3.rs-11177770/v1
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-11177770/v1
AB  - Purpose Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women and risk varies by race/ethnicity. Physical activity has been shown to reduce risk by 10–21% in White women but this reduction has not been established in other races/ethnicities. This study explores the association between physical activity and breast cancer risk in a large cohort of multiethnic women. Methods We analyzed data from 93,137 African American, White, Japanese American, Latina, and Native Hawaiian women who participated in the Hawaii-California Multiethnic Cohort Study. Data on physical activity (hours and METs) was based on a self-administered questionnaire at baseline (1993–1996) and a 10-year follow-up questionnaire (2003–2007). Multivariate Cox proportional hazards models provided estimates of hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results We observed an inverse association between breast cancer risk and METs of total activity per day (HR = 0.92, 95% CI: 0.87–0.98, P trend =0.01) but not for total hours of moderate/vigorous activity per day (HR = 0.95, 95% CI: 0.89–1.02, P trend = 0.08) when comparing the highest quartile to the lowest in all women. After stratification, Latina women in the highest quartile of METs of total activity per day had a statistically significant reduction in breast cancer risk (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.72–0.98, P trend =0.05) compared to the lowest quartile. For others, HRs were below one for the highest METs quartile; there was no evidence of heterogeneity across race/ethnicity (p = 0.76). Conclusion This research confirms an overall protective association between physical activity and breast cancer risk, and suggests protection across races/ethnicities.
SN  - 2693-5015
ER  -

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