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News
Postmenopausal Endogenous Hormones Influence Endometrial Cancer Risk
4 February 2004
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Feb 04 - Pooled prospective data from three
cohorts indicate that high levels of endogenous estrogens and androgens
significantly raise the risk of endometrial cancer in postmenopausal women,
while sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) levels are inversely related to
endometrial cancer risk.
Dr. Anne Zeleniuch-Jacquotte from New York University School of Medicine
and colleagues report these findings in the January 20th issue of The
International Journal of Cancer.
"It has long been known that unopposed exogenous estrogens, such as
estrogen replacement therapy without the addition of a progesterone,
increase the risk of endometrial cancer," Dr. Zeleniuch-Jacquotte noted in
comments to Reuters Health.
In the current study, she and her colleagues looked for associations
between pre-diagnostic blood concentrations of estradiol, estrone,
testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) and
SHBG and endometrial cancer risk in 124 women with invasive endometrial
cancer, each of whom were matched to two controls. None of the women were
taking exogenous hormones at the time of blood collection.
They found that women whose postmenopausal levels of endogenous estradiol
were in the top quartile had an adjusted odds ratio for endometrial cancer
of 4.13, compared with women whose estradiol levels were in the bottom
quartile.
For estrone, androstenedione, testosterone, DHEAS, and SHBG, the adjusted
odds ratios were 3.67, 2.15, 1.74, 2.90, and 0.46, respectively, for the
highest relative to the lowest levels.
Dr. Zeleniuch-Jacquotte pointed out that "in postmenopausal women, the main
source of estrogens is the conversion of androgens to estrogens in adipose
tissue. Therefore, levels of circulating estrogens are positively
correlated with body mass index."
"The take home message in my opinion," she said, "is that avoiding obesity
and weight gain after menopause is expected to reduce the risk of
endometrial cancer."
Int J Cancer 2004;108:425-432.
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