Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Feb 18;17(1):125-34.
doi: 10.1677/ERC-09-0211. Print 2010 Mar.

Plasma sex hormone concentrations and breast cancer risk in an ethnically diverse population of postmenopausal women: the Multiethnic Cohort Study

Christy G Woolcott  1 , Yurii B Shvetsov, Frank Z Stanczyk, Lynne R Wilkens, Kami K White, Christian Caberto, Brian E Henderson, Loïc Le Marchand, Laurence N Kolonel, Marc T Goodman
Affiliations

Plasma sex hormone concentrations and breast cancer risk in an ethnically diverse population of postmenopausal women: the Multiethnic Cohort Study

Christy G Woolcott et al. Endocr Relat Cancer. .

Abstract

To add to the existing evidence that comes mostly from White populations, we conducted a nested case-control study to examine the association between sex hormones and breast cancer risk within the Multiethnic Cohort that includes Japanese American, White, Native Hawaiian, African American, and Latina women. Of the postmenopausal women for whom we had a plasma sample, 132 developed breast cancer during follow-up. Two controls per case, matched on study area (Hawaii, Los Angeles), ethnicity/race, birth year, date and time of blood draw and time fasting, were randomly selected from the women who had not developed breast cancer. Levels of estradiol (E(2)), estrone (E(1)), androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and testosterone were quantified by RIA after organic extraction and Celite column partition chromatography. E(1) sulfate, DHEA sulfate (DHEAS), and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) were quantified by direct immunoassays. Based on conditional logistic regression, the sex hormones were positively associated and SHBG was negatively associated with breast cancer risk. All associations, except those with DHEAS and testosterone showed a significant linear trend. The odds ratio (OR) associated with a doubling of E(2) levels was 2.26 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.58-3.25), and the OR associated with a doubling of testosterone levels was 1.34 (95% CI 0.98-1.82). The associations in Japanese American women, who constituted 54% of our sample, were similar to or nonsignificantly stronger than in the overall group. This study provides the best evidence to date that the association between sex hormones and breast cancer risk is generalizable to an ethnically diverse population.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interest

[To check - The authors had no conflict of interest that would be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of this work.]

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of hormone concentrations with the risk of breast cancer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between a doubling of hormone concentrations and the risk of breast cancer among Japanese American women and women of other race/ethnicity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Barrett-Connor E, Friedlander NJ, Khaw KT. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and breast cancer risk. Cancer Research. 1990;50:6571–6574. - PubMed
    1. Beattie MS, Costantino JP, Cummings SR, Wickerham DL, Vogel VG, Dowsett M, Folkerd EJ, Willett WC, Wolmark N, Hankinson SE. Endogenous sex hormones, breast cancer risk, and tamoxifen response: an ancillary study in the NSABP Breast Cancer Prevention Trial (P-1) Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 2006;98:110–115. - PubMed
    1. Berrino F, Muti P, Micheli A, Bolelli G, Krogh V, Sciajno R, Pisani P, Panico S, Secreto G. Serum sex hormone levels after menopause and subsequent breast cancer. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 1996;88:291–296. - PubMed
    1. Cauley JA, Lucas FL, Kuller LH, Stone K, Browner W, Cummings SR. Elevated serum estradiol and testosterone concentrations are associated with a high risk for breast cancer. Study of Osteoporotic Fractures Research Group. Annals of Internal Medicine. 1999;130:270–277. - PubMed
    1. Clemons M, Goss P. Estrogen and the risk of breast cancer. New England Journal of Medicine. 2001;344:276–285. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances