OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and ovarian cancer, and to present three hypotheses regarding hormonal factors and the risk of ovarian cancer in women. METHODS: Data were analyzed from a population-based, case-control study, the Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, to test the hypotheses. Four hundred seventy-six subjects with histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer were identified from eight tumor registries of the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program. The study included 4081 controls ascertained via random-digit telephone dialing. All subjects and controls were aged 20-54 years. RESULTS: Seven subjects with ovarian cancer and 24 controls reported that they had been diagnosed with PCOS before the study period. Ovarian cancer risk was found to increase 2.5-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-5.9) among women with PCOS. This association is found to be stronger among women who never used oral contraceptives (odds ratio [OR] 10.5, 95% CI 2.5-44.2) and women who were in the first quartile of body mass index (13.3-18.5 kg/m2) at age 18 (OR 15.6, 95% CI 3.4-71.0). CONCLUSION: The data suggest that the hormonal status of women with PCOS featuring abnormal patterns of gonadotropic secretion (enhanced levels of LH) in lean women may be a mitigating factor for the observed association between PCOS and ovarian cancer. We hope that our preliminary data stimulate further investigation of the testable hypotheses.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and ovarian cancer, and to present three hypotheses regarding hormonal factors and the risk of ovarian cancer in women. METHODS: Data were analyzed from a population-based, case-control study, the Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, to test the hypotheses. Four hundred seventy-six subjects with histologically confirmed epithelial ovarian cancer were identified from eight tumor registries of the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program. The study included 4081 controls ascertained via random-digit telephone dialing. All subjects and controls were aged 20-54 years. RESULTS: Seven subjects with ovarian cancer and 24 controls reported that they had been diagnosed with PCOS before the study period. Ovarian cancer risk was found to increase 2.5-fold (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1-5.9) among women with PCOS. This association is found to be stronger among women who never used oral contraceptives (odds ratio [OR] 10.5, 95% CI 2.5-44.2) and women who were in the first quartile of body mass index (13.3-18.5 kg/m2) at age 18 (OR 15.6, 95% CI 3.4-71.0). CONCLUSION: The data suggest that the hormonal status of women with PCOS featuring abnormal patterns of gonadotropic secretion (enhanced levels of LH) in lean women may be a mitigating factor for the observed association between PCOS and ovarian cancer. We hope that our preliminary data stimulate further investigation of the testable hypotheses.
Authors: Jonathan Beesley; Susan J Jordan; Amanda B Spurdle; Honglin Song; Susan J Ramus; Suzanne Kruger Kjaer; Estrid Hogdall; Richard A DiCioccio; Valerie McGuire; Alice S Whittemore; Simon A Gayther; Paul D P Pharoah; Penelope M Webb; Georgia Chenevix-Trench Journal: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev Date: 2007-12 Impact factor: 4.254
Authors: Leo J Schouten; Christine Rivera; David J Hunter; Donna Spiegelman; Hans-Olov Adami; Alan Arslan; W Lawrence Beeson; Piet A van den Brandt; Julie E Buring; Aaron R Folsom; Gary E Fraser; Jo L Freudenheim; R Alexandra Goldbohm; Susan E Hankinson; James V Lacey; Michael Leitzmann; Annekatrin Lukanova; James R Marshall; Anthony B Miller; Alpa V Patel; Carmen Rodriguez; Thomas E Rohan; Julie A Ross; Alicja Wolk; Shumin M Zhang; Stephanie A Smith-Warner Journal: Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev Date: 2008-04-01 Impact factor: 4.254
Authors: Meghan A McSorley; Anthony J Alberg; Diane S Allen; Naomi E Allen; Louise A Brinton; Joanne F Dorgan; Rudolf Kaaks; Sabina Rinaldi; Kathy J Helzlsouer Journal: Int J Cancer Date: 2009-08-01 Impact factor: 7.396
Authors: Sergio Eduardo Perniconi; Manuel de Jesus Simões; Ricardo Dos Santos Simões; Mauro Abi Haidar; Edmund C Baracat; Jose Maria Soares Journal: Clinics (Sao Paulo) Date: 2008-06 Impact factor: 2.365