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Jane A. McElroy,¹ Marty S. Kanarek,^2,3 Amy Trentham-Dietz,^1,2 Stephanie A. Robert,⁴ John M. Hampton,¹ Polly A. Newcomb,^1,5 Henry A. Anderson,⁶ and Patrick L. Remington^1,2

¹University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center, ²Department of Population Health Sciences, ³Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, and ⁴School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA; ⁵Cancer Prevention Research Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA; ⁶Wisconsin Division of Public Health, Department of Health and Family Services, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Abstract
In Wisconsin, consumption of Great Lakes fish is an important source of exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) , dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) , polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) , and other halogenated hydrocarbons, all of which may act as potential risk factors for breast cancer. We examined the association between sport-caught fish consumption and breast cancer incidence as part of an ongoing population-based case-control study. We identified breast cancer cases 20-69 years of age who were diagnosed in 1998-2000 (n = 1,481) from the Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System. Female controls of similar age were randomly selected from population lists (n = 1,301) . Information about all sport-caught (Great Lakes and other lakes) fish consumption and breast cancer risk factors was obtained through telephone interviews. After adjustment for known and suspected risk factors, the relative risk of breast cancer for women who had recently consumed sport-caught fish was similar to women who had never eaten sport-caught fish [relative risk (RR) = 1.00 ; 95% confidence interval (CI) , 0.86-1.17]. Frequency of consumption and location of sport-caught fish were not associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. Recent consumption of Great Lakes fish was not associated with postmenopausal breast cancer (RR = 0.78 ; 95% CI, 0.57-1.07) , whereas risk associated with premenopausal breast cancer was elevated (RR = 1.70 ; 95% CI, 1.16-2.50) . In this study we found no overall association between recent consumption of sport-caught fish and breast cancer, although there may be an increased breast cancer risk for subgroups of women who are young and/or premenopausal. Key words: breast cancer, DDT, Great Lakes, PBDEs, PCBs, sport-caught fish consumption. Environ Health Perspect 112:156-162 (2004) . doi:10.1289/ehp.6506 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 31 October 2003]

Address correspondence to J.A. McElroy, University of Wisconsin Comprehensive Cancer Center, Room 307 WARF, 610 Walnut Street, Madison, WI 53726 USA. Telephone: (608) 265-8780. Fax: (608) 265-5330. E-mail: jamcelroy@wisc.edu

We thank L. Hanrahan, C. Jefcoate, and W. Sonzogni for advice ; L. Stephenson of the Wisconsin Cancer Reporting System for assistance with data ; and the Women's Health Study staff for data collection and study management.

This study was supported by National Cancer Institute grants R01CA47147 and U01CA82004.

The authors declare they have no competing financial interests.

Received 9 June 2003 ; accepted 4 November 2003.