Relationship between Menopausal Symptoms and Risk of Postmenopausal Breast Cancer.

Huang, Yi and Malone, Kathleen E and Cushing-Haugen, Kara L and Daling, Janet R and Li, Christopher I (2011) Relationship between Menopausal Symptoms and Risk of Postmenopausal Breast Cancer. Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology. ISSN 1538-7755 (In Press)

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Prior studies indicate that women with menopausal symptoms have lower estrogen levels because they go through menopause as compared with women who do not experience them. Given the central role of hormones in the etiology of breast cancer, a link between menopausal symptoms and breast cancer is plausible. However, no prior studies have evaluated the association between menopausal symptoms and breast cancer risk. METHODS: Utilizing data from a population-based case-control study we examined associations between menopausal symptoms and risks of different histologic types of breast cancer among postmenopausal women. We calculated multivariate adjusted odds ratios (OR) using polytomous logistic regression and evaluated several potential effect modifiers. RESULTS: Women who ever experienced menopausal symptoms had lower risks of invasive ductal carcinoma [(IDC) OR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3-0.7], invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC, OR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3-0.8), and invasive ductal-lobular carcinoma (IDLC, OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.4-1.2), and these reductions in risk were independent of recency and timing of hormone therapy use, age at menopause, and body mass index. Increasing intensity of hot flushes among women who ever experienced hot flushes was also associated with decreasing risks of all three breast cancer subtypes (P values for trend all ≤0.017). CONCLUSION: This is the first study to report that women who ever experienced menopausal symptoms have a substantially reduced risk of breast cancer, and that severity of hot flushes is also inversely associated with risk. Impact: If confirmed, these findings could enhance our understanding of breast cancer etiology and factors potentially relevant to prevention. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 20(2); 1-10; ©2011 AACR.

Item Type:	Article or Abstract
Additional Information:	This article is available by subscription only via the URL above for the first 12 months following publication.
DOI:	10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-10-0998
PubMed ID:	21212063
NIHMSID:	NIHMS266784
PMCID:	PMC3037725
Keywords or MeSH Headings:	Aged Body Composition Body Mass Index Breast Neoplasms/drug therapy Breast Neoplasms/epidemiology* Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast/drug therapy Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast/epidemiology* Carcinoma, Lobular/drug therapy Carcinoma, Lobular/epidemiology* Case-Control Studies Cohort Studies Female Follow-Up Studies Hot Flashes Humans Menopause* Middle Aged Postmenopause* Prognosis Risk Factors Survival Rate United States/epidemiology
Subjects:	Diseases > Solid tumors > Breast cancer
Depositing User:	Library Staff
Date Deposited:	21 Jan 2011 19:48
Last Modified:	14 Feb 2012 14:43
URI:	http://authors.fhcrc.org/id/eprint/481

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