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Hot flushes are linked with a significant
reduction in breast cancer risk
The more frequent and severe the hot
flushes, the lower the cancer risk
January 28, 2011 – Women who have
experienced hot flushes and other symptoms
of menopause may have a 50 percent lower
risk of developing the most common forms of
breast cancer than postmenopausal women who
have never had such symptoms, according to a
recent study by researchers at Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
The results of the first study to examine
the relationship between menopausal symptoms
and breast cancer risk are available online
ahead of the February print issue of Cancer
Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention.
The protective effect appeared to increase
along with the number and severity of
menopausal symptoms, according to senior
author Christopher I. Li, M.D., Ph.D., a
breast cancer epidemiologist in the
Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences
Division.
"In particular we found that women who
experienced more intense hot flushes – the
kind that woke them up at night – had a
particularly low risk of breast cancer," he
said.
Li and colleagues suspected a link between
menopause misery and decreased breast cancer
risk because hormones such as estrogen and
progesterone play an important role in the
development of most breast cancers, and
reductions in these hormones caused by
gradual cessation of ovarian function can
impact the frequency and severity of
menopausal symptoms.
"Since menopausal symptoms occur as hormone
levels fluctuate and drop, we hypothesized
that women who experienced symptoms such as
hot flushes and night sweats – particularly
frequent and severe symptoms – might have a
lower risk of breast cancer due to decreased
estrogen levels," he said.
Indeed, the researchers found a 40 percent
to 60 percent reduction in the risk of
invasive ductal and invasive lobular
carcinoma – the two most common types of
breast cancer – among women who experienced
hot flushes and other symptoms.
The association between such symptoms and
decreased cancer risk did not change even
after the researchers accounted for other
factors known to boost breast cancer risk,
such as obesity and use of hormone
replacement therapy.
For the study, which was funded by the
National Cancer Institute, Li and colleagues
interviewed 1,437 postmenopausal
Seattle-area women, 988 of whom had been
previously diagnosed with breast cancer and
449 of whom had not, who served as a
comparison group.
The women were surveyed about perimenopausal
and menopausal symptoms ranging from hot
flushes, night sweats and insomnia to
vaginal dryness, irregular or heavy
menstrual bleeding, depression and anxiety.
"While menopausal symptoms can certainly
have a negative impact on quality of life,
our study suggests that there may be a
silver lining if the reduction in breast
cancer risk is confirmed in future studies,"
Li said.
"If these findings are confirmed, they have
the potential to improve our understanding
of the causes of breast cancer and improve
approaches to preventing this disease."
###
At Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center,
our interdisciplinary teams of
world-renowned scientists and humanitarians
work together to prevent, diagnose and treat
cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our
researchers, including three Nobel
laureates, bring a relentless pursuit and
passion for health, knowledge and hope to
their work and to the world. www.fhcrc.org
