Neighborhood disadvantage and individual-level life stressors in relation to breast cancer incidence in US Black women

BACKGROUND: Research on psychosocial stress and risk of breast cancer has produced conflicting results. Few studies have assessed this relation by breast cancer subtype or specifically among Black women, who experience unique chronic stressors. METHODS: We used prospective data from the Black Women’s Health Study, an ongoing cohort study of 59,000 US Black women, to assess neighborhood- and individual-level psychosocial factors in relation to risk of breast cancer. We used factor analysis to derive two neighborhood score variables after linking participant addresses to US Census data (2000 and 2010) on education, employment, income and poverty, female-headed households, and Black race for all households in each residential block group. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) adjusted for established breast cancer risk factors. RESULTS: During follow-up from 1995 to 2017, there were 2167 incident invasive breast cancer cases (1259 estrogen receptor positive (ER +); 687 ER negative (ER−)). For ER− breast cancer, HRs were 1.26 (95% CI 1.00–1.58) for women living in the highest quartile of neighborhood disadvantage relative to women in the lowest quartile, and 1.24 (95% CI 0.98–1.57) for lowest versus highest quartile of neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES). For ER+ breast cancer, living in the lowest quartile of neighborhood SES was associated with a reduced risk of ER+ breast cancer (HR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.70–0.98). With respect to individual-level factors, childhood sexual abuse (sexual assault ≥ 4 times vs. no abuse: HR = 1.35, 95% CI 1.01–1.79) and marital status (married/living together vs. single: HR = 1.29, 95% CI 1.08–1.53) were associated with higher risk of ER+, but not ER− breast cancer. CONCLUSION: Neighborhood disadvantage and lower neighborhood SES were associated with an approximately 25% increased risk of ER− breast cancer in this large cohort of Black women, even after control for multiple behaviors and lifestyle factors. Further research is need to understand the underlying reasons for these associations. Possible contributing factors are biologic responses to the chronic stress/distress experienced by individuals who reside in neighborhoods characterized by high levels of noise, crime and unemployment or the direct effects of environmental toxins. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13058-021-01483-y.