TY - JOUR
T1 - A prospective study of postmenopausal hormone use and ovarian cancer risk
AU - Danforth, K. N.
AU - Tworoger, S. S.
AU - Hecht, J. L.
AU - Rosner, B. A.
AU - Colditz, G. A.
AU - Hankinson, S. E.
N1 - Funding Information:
The research for this article was funded by the grant CA87969 from the National Institutes of Health. Dr Danforth and Dr Tworoger were supported in part by the National Cancer Institute Training grant, CA09001, in cancer epidemiology. Dr Colditz was supported in part by the American Cancer Society Cissy Hornung Clinical Research Professorship. Dr Hankinson was supported in part by the grant CA105009 from the National Institutes of Health.
PY - 2007/1/15
Y1 - 2007/1/15
N2 - The relationship between postmenopausal hormone use (PMH) and ovarian cancer risk is unclear, particularly for specific hormone formulations, but recent studies suggest that there is a positive association. We conducted a prospective observational study with 82 905 postmenopausal women, including 389 ovarian cancers, in the Nurses' Health Study from 1976 to 2002. Compared with never users of PMH, both current and past users of ≥5 years had a significantly elevated risk of ovarian cancer (RR = 1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-1.86 and relative risk (RR) = 1.52, 95% CI 1.01-2.27, respectively). Examined by hormone type in continuous years, use of unopposed estrogen was associated with a significant increase in the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (P for trend <0.001; RR for 5-year increment of use = 1.25, 95% CI 1.12-1.38). Use of estrogen plus progestin (RR for 5-year increment of use = 1.04, 95% CI 0.82-1.32) was not significantly associated with ovarian cancer risk. Generally, results were similar for serous tumours (RR for 5-year increment of unopposed estrogen use = 1.23, 95% CI 1.07-1.40) and slightly stronger for endometrioid tumours (RR for 5-year increment of unopposed estrogen use = 1.53, 95% CI 1.20-1.94). Recency of use was not significantly associated with ovarian cancer risk, but statistical power was limited here.
AB - The relationship between postmenopausal hormone use (PMH) and ovarian cancer risk is unclear, particularly for specific hormone formulations, but recent studies suggest that there is a positive association. We conducted a prospective observational study with 82 905 postmenopausal women, including 389 ovarian cancers, in the Nurses' Health Study from 1976 to 2002. Compared with never users of PMH, both current and past users of ≥5 years had a significantly elevated risk of ovarian cancer (RR = 1.41, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-1.86 and relative risk (RR) = 1.52, 95% CI 1.01-2.27, respectively). Examined by hormone type in continuous years, use of unopposed estrogen was associated with a significant increase in the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (P for trend <0.001; RR for 5-year increment of use = 1.25, 95% CI 1.12-1.38). Use of estrogen plus progestin (RR for 5-year increment of use = 1.04, 95% CI 0.82-1.32) was not significantly associated with ovarian cancer risk. Generally, results were similar for serous tumours (RR for 5-year increment of unopposed estrogen use = 1.23, 95% CI 1.07-1.40) and slightly stronger for endometrioid tumours (RR for 5-year increment of unopposed estrogen use = 1.53, 95% CI 1.20-1.94). Recency of use was not significantly associated with ovarian cancer risk, but statistical power was limited here.
KW - Epidemiology
KW - Hormone
KW - Ovarian cancer
KW - Postmenopausal
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33846236521&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/sj.bjc.6603527
DO - 10.1038/sj.bjc.6603527
M3 - Article
C2 - 17179984
AN - SCOPUS:33846236521
SN - 0007-0920
VL - 96
SP - 151
EP - 156
JO - British Journal of Cancer
JF - British Journal of Cancer
IS - 1
ER -