A case-control study was conducted in the USA to examine the association between use of electric bedding devices and breast cancer in African-American women.
Estrogen receptor status was measured in tumor tissue samples using the immunohistochemical methods.
Electric bedding devices included electric blankets, electric mattress pads, and heated water beds. For detailed analysis of electric blankets, women who used an electric bedding device for more than 6 months per year (and therefore were more likely to have used a heated water bed, which generates lower magnetic fields) were excluded.
| Group | Description |
|---|---|
| Reference group 1 | use of electric bedding devices: no |
| Group 2 | use of electric bedding devices: yes |
| Reference group 3 | number of years of use: 0 |
| Group 4 | number of years of use: 1 - 5 years |
| Group 5 | number of years of use: 6 - 10 years |
| Group 6 | number of years of use: > 10 years |
| Reference group 7 | number of months of use per year: 0 |
| Group 8 | number of months of use per year: < 3 |
| Group 9 | number of months of use per year: > 3 |
| Reference group 10 | mode of use: no use |
| Group 11 | mode of use: used to warm bed only |
| Group 12 | mode of use: kept on most of the time |
| Cases | Controls | |
|---|---|---|
| Eligible | 670 | - |
| Participants | 304 | 305 |
An increased risk for breast cancer was observed for women who used an electric bedding device (group 2) as compared to the reference group 1 (OR 1.4, CI 0.9-2.2). The risk increased with increasing number of years of use (use for more than 10 years: OR 4.9, CI 1.5-15.6). The risk appeared to be higher for use in more than 3 months per year as compared with use in 3 months or less (OR 1.7, CI 0.9-3.2). No risk was observed for using the device for warming the bed only (group 11: OR 1.0, CI 0.5-2.2), however an increased risk was found for keeping the device on most of the time (group 12: OR 1.7, CI 1.0-3.0).
Restricting the analyses to women who presumably used an electric blanket, the corresponding dose-response relations were more striking. Similar results were found for both premenopausal and postmenopausal women and for both estrogen receptor-positive and estrogen receptor-negative tumors.
The authors conclude that the use of electric bedding devices may increase breast cancer risk in African-American women.
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