Breast
Levels of Sex Hormones May Be Associated With Increased Risk of Some Types of Breast Cancer, Study Finds
By Pankaj, US correspondent
Dec 16, 2004, 19:19

Circulating levels of several sex steroid hormones may be associated with an increased risk of estrogen receptor (ER)� and progesterone receptor (PR)�positive breast cancers, according to a new study.

Although hormone levels have been associated with the risk of breast cancer among postmenopausal women, few studies have examined their relationship with tumor receptor status or invasive versus in situ status. Stacey A. Missmer, of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and colleagues investigated these relations in a case�control study of nearly 1,000 women from the Nurses' Health Study.

The researchers found a direct association between breast cancer risk and the level of both estrogens and androgens but not the levels of progesterone or sex hormone binding globulin. The hormone levels were most strongly associated with the risk of ER�positive/PR�positive breast tumors. In addition, all hormone levels tended to be most strongly associated with in situ disease.


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