Abstract A05: Menopausal vasomotor symptoms and mammographic density in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation

Abstract

Abstract Background: Declines in endogenous estrogen during menopause have been linked to the onset of menopausal vasomotor symptoms (VMS) and to reduced breast cancer risk. Percent mammographic density (PMD) is viewed as a marker for breast cancer susceptibility. Establishing a relationship between VMS and PMD may justify future prospective investigations of VMS and breast cancer risk. Methods: We investigated this association in the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Mammgraphic Density Substudy (N=833). Women were pre- or perimenopausal at enrollment and followed through menopause. VMS were assessed at annual SWAN visits. PMD was ascertained from routine screening mammograms. A linear mixed effects model was used to evaluate the longitudinal association between VMS and PMD. Results: Women contributed a total of 4,748 mammograms (2-10 per woman) over a median 5.4 years. We observed no overall association between VMS and PMD. When stratified by menopausal status, VMS was associated with lower PMD among perimenopausal women (β = -1.29%, 95%CI -2.58, -0.001) and those with unknown menopausal status due to hormone use during the study period (β = -3.62%, 95%CI -7.17, -0.07). VMS was not associated with absolute dense area in any analyses. Among women who transitioned to postmenopausal, VMS was not associated with change in PMD across the menopausal transition. Conclusion: Although our findings do not suggest a strong association between VMS and PMD, we observed a significant effect among perimenopausal women and those using hormones during menopause.. Further prospective studies are needed to establish a relationship between VMS and breast cancer risk, and to ascertain the extent to which this relationship may be mediated by PMD. Citation Format: Vicki Hart, Susan Sturgeon, Nicholas Reich, Lynnette Leidy Sievert, Sybil Crawford, Ellen Gold, Laurel Habel, Katherine W. Reeves. Menopausal vasomotor symptoms and mammographic density 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 A05.