Abstract
Millions of women have used estrogens for relief of menopausal symptoms. Theoretical considerations, clinical observations, and epidemiologic information raise concern as to possible associations between use of exogenous estrogens and cancers of the female reproductive tract (Thomas, 1978). Because of the large number of women who have been using or will use estrogens for menopausal symptoms, any risk of or protection from these cancers could have major health impact on women in their postmenopausal years.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Annegers, J. F., Strom, H., Decker, D. G., Dockerty, M. B., and O’Fallon, W. M., 1979, Ovarian cancer: Incidence and case-control study, Cancer 43:723–729.
Antunes, C. M. F., Stolley, P. D., Rosenshein, N. B., Davies, J. L., Tonascia, J. A., Brown, C., Burnett, L., Rutledge, A., Pokempner, M., and Garcia, R., 1979, Endometrial cancer and estrogen use: Report of a large case-control study, N. Engl. J. Med. 300:9–13.
Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, 1974, Surgically confirmed gallbladder disease, venous thromboembolism, and breast tumors in relation to postmenopausal estrogen therapy, N. Engl. J. Med. 290:15–18.
Brinton, L. A., Hoover, R. N., Szklo, M., and Fraumeni, J. F., 1981, Menopausal estrogen use and risk of breast cancer, Cancer 47:2517–2522.
Casagrande, J., Gerkins, V., Henderson, B. E., Mack, T., and Pike, M. C., 1976, Brief communication: Exogenous estrogens and breast cancer in women with natural menopause, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 56:839–841.
Centers for Disease Control Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, 1983a, Long-term oral contraceptive use and the risk of breast cancer, JAMA 249:1591–1595.
Centers for Disease Control Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, 1983b, Oral contraceptive use and the risk of ovarian cancer, JAMA 249:1596–1599.
Centers for Disease Control Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study, 1983c, Oral contraceptive use and the risk of endometrial cancer, JAMA 249:1600–1604.
Craig, T. J., Comstock, G. W., and Geiser, P. B., 1974, Epidemiologic comparison of breast cancer patients with early and late onset of malignancy and general population controls, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 53:1577–1581.
Cramer, D. W., Hutchinson, G. B., Welch, W. R., Scully, R. E., and Ryan, K. J., 1983, Determinants of ovarian cancer risk: I. Reproductive experiences and family history, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 71:711–716.
Gray, L. A., Christopherson, W. M., and Hoover, R. N., 1977, Estrogens and endometrial carcinoma, Obstet. Gynecol. 49:385–389.
Hildreth, N. G., Kelsey, J. L., LiVolsi, V. A., Fischer, D. B., Holford, T. R., Mostow, E. D., Schwartz, P. E., and White, C., 1981, An epidemiologic study of epithelial carcinoma of the ovary, Am. J. Epidemiol. 114:398–405.
Hoogerland, D. L., Buchler, D. A., Crowley, J. J., and Carr, W. F., 1978, Estrogen use — risk of endometrial carcinoma, Gynecol. Oncol. 6:451–458.
Hoover, R., Gray, L. A., Sr, Cole, P., and MacMahon, B., 1976, Menopausal estrogens and breast cancer, N. Engl. J. Med. 295:401–405.
Hoover, R., Gray, L. A., Sr, and Fraumeni, J. F., Jr, 1977, Stilboestrol (Diethylstilbestrol) and the risk of ovarian cancer, Lancet 2:533–534.
Hoover, R., Glass, A., and Finkle, W. D., et al., 1981, Conjugated estrogens and breast cancer risk in women, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 67:815–820.
Horwitz, R. I., and Feinstein, A. R., 1978, Alternative analytic methods for the case-control studies of estrogens and endometrial cancer, N. Engl. J. Med. 299:1089–1094.
Hulka, B. S., 1980, Effect of exogenous estrogen on postmenopausal women: The epidemiologic evidence, Obstet. Gynecol. Surv. 35:389–399.
Hulka, B. S., Grimson, R. C., Greenberg, B. G., Kaufman, D. G., Fowler, W. C., Hogue, C. J. R., Berger, G. S., and Pulliam, C. C., 1980, “Alternative” controls in a case-control study of endometrial cancer and exogenous estrogen, Am. J. Epidemiol. 112:376–387.
Hulka, B. S., Chambless, L. E., Deubner, D. C., and Wilkinson, W. E., 1982, Breast cancer and estrogen replacement therapy, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 143:638–644.
Jelovsek, F. R., Hammond, C. B., Woodard, B. H., Draffin, R., Lee, K. L., Creasman, W. T., and Parker, R. T., 1980, Risk of exogenous estrogen therapy and endometrial cancer, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 137:85–91.
Jick, H., Walker, A. M., Watkins, R. N., D’Ewart, D. C., Hunter, J. R., Danford, A., Madsen, S., Dinan, B. J., and Rothman, K. J., 1980, Replacement estrogens and breast cancer, Am. J. Epidemiol. 112:586–594.
Kaufman, D. W., Miller, D. R., Rosenberg, L., Helmrich, S. P., Stolley, P., Schottenfeld, D., and Shapiro, S., 1984, Noncontraceptive estrogen use and the risk of breast cancer, JAMA 252:63–67.
Kelsey, J. L., Fischer, D. B., Holford, T. R., LiVolsi, V., Mostow, E. D., Goldenberg, I. S., and White, C., 1981, Exogenous estrogens and other factors in the epidemiology of breast cancer, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 67:327–333.
Kelsey, J. L., LiVolsi, V. A., Holford, T. R., Fischer, D. B., Mostow, E. D., Schwartz, P.E., O’Connor, T., and White, C., 1982, A case-control study of cancer of the endometrium, Am. J. Epidemiol. 116:333–342.
La Vecchia, C., Liberati, A., and Franceschi, S., 1982, Noncontraceptive estrogen use and the occurrence of ovarian cancer, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 69:1207.
Mack, T. M., Pike, M. C., Henderson, B. E., Pfeffer, R. I., Gerkins, V. R., Arthur, M., and Brown, S. E., 1976, Estrogens and endometrial cancer in a retirement community, N. Engl. J. Med. 294:1262–1267.
McDonald, T. W., Annegers, J. F., O’Fallan, W. M., Dockerty, M. B., Malkasian, G. D., and Kurland, L. T., 1977, Exogenous estrogen and endometrial carcinoma: Case-control and incidence study, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 127:572–580.
McGowan, L., Parent, L., Lednar, W., and Noms, H. J., 1979, The woman at risk for developing ovarian cancer, Gynecol. Oncol. 7:325–344.
Paterson, M. E. L., Wade-Evans, T., Sturdee, D. W., Thorn, M. H., and Studd, J. W. W., 1980, Endometrial disease after treatment with oestrogens and progestogens in the climacteric, Br. Med. J. 280:822–824.
Ravnihar, B., Seigel, D. G., and Lindtner, J., 1979, An epidemiologic study of breast cancer and benign breast neoplasias in relation to the oral contraceptive and estrogen use, Europ. J. Cancer 15:395–405.
Ross, R. K., Paganini-Hill, A., Gerkins, V. R., Mack, T. M., Pfeffer, R., Arthur, M., and Henderson, B. E., 1980, A case-control study of menopausal estrogen therapy and breast cancer, JAMA 243:1635–1639.
Sartwell, P. E., Arthes, F. G., and Tonascia, J. A., 1977, Exogenous hormones, reproductive history and breast cancer, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 59:1589–1592.
Shapiro, S., Kaufman, D. W., Slone, D., Rosenberg, L., Miettinen, O. S., Stolley, P. D., Rosenshein, N. B., Watring, W. G., Leavitt, T., and Knapp, R. C., 1980, Recent and past use of conjugated estrogens in relation to adenocarcinoma of the endometrium, N. Engl. J. Med. 303:485–489.
Silverberg, E. and Lubera, J. A., 1983, A review of American Cancer Society estimates of cancer cases and deaths, CA 33:2–25.
Smith, D. C., Prentice, R., Thompson, D. J., and Herrmann, W. L., 1975, Association of exogenous estrogen and endometrial carcinoma, N. Engl. J. Med. 293:1164–1167.
Spengler, R. F., Clarke, E. A., Woolever, C. A., Newman, A. M., and Osborn, R. W., 1981, Exogenous estrogens and endometrial cancer: A case-control study and assessment of potential biases, Am. J. Epidemiol. 114:497–506.
Stadel, B. V., 1975, The etiology and prevention of ovarian cancer, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 123:772–773.
Stavraky, K. M., Collins, J. A., Donner, A., and Wells, G. A., 1981, A comparison of estrogen use by women with endometrial cancer, gynecologic disorders and other illnesses, Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol. 141:547–555.
Symmers, W. S., 1968, Carcinoma of the breast in transsexual individuals after surgical and hormonal interference with the primary and secondary sex characteristics, Br. Med. J. 2:82.
Thomas, D. B., 1978, Role of exogenous female hormone in altering the risk of benign and malignant neoplasms in humans, Cancer Res. 38:3991–4000.
Thomas, D. B., 1984, Do hormones cause breast cancer? Cancer 53:595–604.
Waksberg, J., 1978, Sampling methods for random digit dialing, J. Am. Stat. Assoc. 73:40–46.
Weiss, N. S., Lyon, J. L., Krishnamurthy, S., Diftert, S. E., Liff, J. M., and Daling, J. R., 1982, Noncontraceptive estrogen use and the occurrence of ovarian cancer, J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 68:95–98.
Whitehead, M. I., King, R. J. B., McQueen, J., and Cambell, S., 1979, Endometrial histology and biochemistry in climacteric women during oestrogen and oestrogen/progestogen therapy, J. R. Soc. Med. 72:322–327
Ziel, H. K., and Finkel, W. D., 1975, Increased risk of endometrial carcinoma among users of conjugated estrogens, N. Engl. J. Med. 293:1167–1170.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lee, N.C., Wingo, P.A., Peterson, H.B., Rubin, G.L., Sattin, R.W. (1986). Estrogen Therapy and the Risk of Breast, Ovarian, and Endometrial Cancer. In: Mastroianni, L., Paulsen, C.A. (eds) Aging, Reproduction, and the Climacteric. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5047-7_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5047-7_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-5049-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-5047-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive