Background: Mechanisms underlying the inverse association between physical activity and survival after breast cancer are unresolved, but DNA methylation may play a role. We hypothesized that promoter methylation of breast cancer-related genes, as well as global methylation, may modify the association between prediagnostic recreational physical activity (RPA) and breast cancer mortality.
Methods: Using a population-based sample of 1254 women diagnosed with first primary breast cancer, we examined modification of the RPA-mortality association by gene-specific promoter methylation and global methylation. Average lifetime RPA was assessed from menarche to diagnosis through structured in-home interviews. Promoter methylation of 13 breast cancer-related genes was evaluated in archived tumor by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction and MethyLight assay. Global methylation in white blood cell DNA was determined at long interspersed nucleotide element 1 and by the luminometric methylation assay. After approximately 15 years of follow-up, 486 patients had died, and 186 of the deaths were breast cancer-related. We used Cox proportional hazards regression to estimate HRs and 95% CIs as well as likelihood ratio tests to assess multiplicative interactions.
Results: All-cause mortality was lower only among physically active women with methylated promoter of APC (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.40-0.80), CCND2 (HR 0.56, 95% CI 0.32-0.99), HIN (HR 0.55, 95% CI 0.38-0.80), and TWIST1 (HR 0.28, 95% CI 0.14-0.56) in tumors, but not among those with unmethylated tumors (significant interaction p < 0.05). We found no interaction between RPA and global methylation.
Conclusions: The improved survival after breast cancer that is associated with RPA may be more pronounced in women with promoter tumor methylation in biologically plausible genes.
Keywords: Breast cancer; Epigenetics; Methylation; Physical activity; Survival.