Abstract
Abstract Two previous retrospective studies reported a significantly decreased breast cancer risk among women who experienced menopausal vasomotor symptoms (VMS). It is possible that VMS are a marker of declining sex hormone levels during menopause. Elevated sex hormone levels have been associated with increased breast cancer risk, suggesting that VMS may be indicative of lower susceptibility to breast cancer. We evaluated this relationship in the prospective Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN), which includes annual data on VMS and endogenous hormone levels for 3,098 women who were pre- or early peri-menopausal at enrollment. We evaluated the effect of VMS on breast cancer risk using discrete survival analysis. Over an average 11.4 years of follow-up, 129 breast cancer cases were self-reported and approximately 50% of participants reported some VMS. Women reporting VMS at any current or previous visit had a reduced risk of breast cancer compared to those never experiencing VMS (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.39, 1.02). Results were strengthened in the subgroup of women who fully transitioned to postmenopausal during follow-up (N=80 cases, OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.26, 0.77). Associations were unchanged upon adjustment for endogenous hormone levels. VMS appear to be a marker of reduced breast cancer risk. Future research is needed to fully understand this relationship, which does not appear to be mediated by endogenous hormone levels. Citation Format: Vicki Hart, Susan Sturgeon, Nicholas Reich, Lynnette Leidy Sievert, Sybil Crawford, Ellen Gold, Nancy Avis, Katherine W. Reeves. Menopausal vasomotor symptoms and incident breast cancer risk in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual AACR International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research; 2014 Sep 27-Oct 1; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Can Prev Res 2015;8(10 Suppl): Abstract nr A04.
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