Maternal Health and Breast Cancer Risk Factors

Maternal health events throughout pregnancy exert a lasting influence on a woman’s subsequent breast cancer risk. Established reproductive factors such as age at first birth and overall parity confer a protective effect, mediated in part by hormonal modulation and differentiation of mammary tissue. Pregnancy complications—including hypertensive disorders like preeclampsia and severe nausea and vomiting (hyperemesis gravidarum)—further alter long-term risk profiles. Preeclampsia appears to induce changes in oestrogen, progesterone and insulin-like growth factor signalling that promote enhanced involution of breast epithelium, a process linked to reduced tumour initiation sites. Conversely, hyperemesis gravidarum may reflect elevated human chorionic gonadotropin levels, with more equivocal effects on future breast neoplasia. Offspring characteristics such as birthweight and gestational age also correlate with maternal risk, potentially via shared endocrine pathways. Genetic predispositions, for example functional variants in the IGF1R gene, modify these associations, underscoring the interplay between inherited factors and pregnancy-induced biological changes. Understanding these complex interconnections offers opportunities for risk stratification and tailored surveillance in women with distinct pregnancy histories, with implications for global breast-cancer prevention strategies.

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Maternal Health and Breast Cancer Risk Factors publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in maternal health and breast cancer risk factors across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Preeclampsia: A pregnancy-specific hypertensive disorder, typically manifesting after 20 weeks’ gestation, characterised by high blood pressure and organ dysfunction.

Hyperemesis gravidarum: A severe form of pregnancy-associated nausea and vomiting, often leading to dehydration and weight loss.

Parity: The number of pregnancies carried to viable gestational age in a woman’s reproductive history.

Mammographic density: The proportion of fibroglandular tissue in the breast visible on mammography, a recognised risk factor for breast cancer.

Breast tissue involution: The physiological regression of mammary epithelial structures postpartum, reducing sites susceptible to malignant transformation.

References

1. Women with preeclampsia may have reduced risk of breast cancer: a meta-analysis of cohort studies with 7.8 million participants. Hypertension in Pregnancy (2023).
2. Assessment of All-Cause Cancer Incidence Among Individuals With Preeclampsia or Eclampsia During First Pregnancy. JAMA Network Open (2021).
3. Breast cancer risk in relation to history of preeclampsia and hyperemesis gravidarum: Prospective analysis in the Generations Study. International Journal of Cancer (2018).
4. Maternal breast cancer risk in relation to birthweight and gestation of her offspring. Breast Cancer Research (2018).
5. Pregnancy Hypertension and a Commonly Inherited IGF1R Variant (rs2016347) Reduce Breast Cancer Risk by Enhancing Mammary Gland Involution. Journal of Oncology (2019).