General Gynecology · Breast Health

Polycystic ovaries and the risk of breast cancer

Gammon MD, Thompson WD

Published October 15, 1991 American Journal of Epidemiology, 134(8), 818-824
DOI 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116156 PMID 1951277

Abstract

Data from a case-control study that was conducted between 1980 and 1982 were analyzed to investigate the possible association between polycystic ovaries and the risk of breast cancer. The multicenter, population-based study included in-home interviews with 4,730 women with breast cancer and 4,688 control women aged 20-54 years. The age-adjusted odds ratio for breast cancer among women with a self-reported history of physician-diagnosed polycystic ovaries was 0.52 (95% confidence interval 0.32-0.87). The inverse association was not an artifact of infertility, age at first birth, or surgical menopause. Because women with this syndrome have abnormal levels of certain endogenous hormones, the observation of a low risk of breast cancer in this group may provide new insights into hormonal influences on breast cancer.

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General Gynecology › Breast Health › Breast Cancer Risk · Reproductive Endocrinology › Ovarian Hormones › Androgens
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M Gammon
PMID 1951277 1951277 DOI 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116156 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a116156 Gammon et al. 1991, Gammon 1991