Association Between Emphysema and Breast Cancer: Data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1998–2016)

Background: Emphysema has been linked to an elevated risk of lung cancer, yet the association between emphysema and breast cancer (BC) has not been established. Hence, our study aimed to investigate the potential correlation between emphysema as an exposure factor and BC as the outcome, while accounting for various covariates associated with BC. Methods: Participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey database from 1998 to 2016 were selected for analysis. Initially, ineligible individuals were excluded from this analysis. Subsequently, chi-square test and t -test were independently executed to assess variances in covariates and exposure factors between patients with BC and controls, leading to the development of a baseline table. Subsequently, weighted multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted to explore the potential association between emphysema and BC, resulting in the development of three logistic regression models. Additionally, risk stratification analysis using weighted stratified logistic regression was performed to analyze the impact of emphysema on BC across different populations. Results: After excluding ineligible individuals, 4,937 participants remained, comprising 152 patients with BC and 4,785 controls. The baseline table revealed significant differences between BC and control samples in terms of emphysema ( p = 1 × 10 −2 ), age ( p = 5 × 10 −4 ), race ( p = 1 × 10 −3 ), marital status ( p = 5 × 10 −4 ), hypertension ( p = 5 × 10 −4 ), and number of pregnancies ( p = 2.1 × 10 −2 ). Furthermore, all p values for emphysema across the three model types were less than 0.05, indicating that the association between emphysema and BC was not significantly affected by other covariates. Meanwhile, the risk stratification analysis demonstrated that emphysema may be a risk factor for BC (odds ratio = 2.6, 95% confidence interval 1.25–5.41, p = 1.09 × 10 −2 ). Conclusion: The study’s findings indicating a correlation between emphysema and BC, with emphysema may be a risk factor for BC. This provides a potential theoretical basis for the development of BC treatment strategies.