3
|
Fuhrman BJ, Moore SC, Byrne C, Makhoul I, Kitahara CM, Berrington de González A, Linet MS, Weiderpass E, Adami HO, Freedman ND, Liao LM, Matthews CE, Stolzenberg-Solomon RZ, Gaudet MM, Patel AV, Lee IM, Buring JE, Wolk A, Larsson SC, Prizment AE, Robien K, Spriggs M, Check DP, Murphy N, Gunter MJ, Van Dusen HL, Ziegler RG, Hoover RN. Association of the Age at Menarche with Site-Specific Cancer Risks in Pooled Data from Nine Cohorts. Cancer Res 2021; 81:2246-2255. [PMID: 33820799 PMCID: PMC8137527 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.can-19-3093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2019] [Revised: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/22/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
The average age at menarche declined in European and U.S. populations during the 19th and 20th centuries. The timing of pubertal events may have broad implications for chronic disease risks in aging women. Here we tested for associations of recalled menarcheal age with risks of 19 cancers in 536,450 women [median age, 60 years (range, 31-39 years)] in nine prospective U.S. and European cohorts that enrolled participants from 1981 to 1998. Cox regression estimated multivariable-adjusted HRs and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations of the age at menarche with risk of each cancer in each cohort and random-effects meta-analysis was used to generate summary estimates for each cancer. Over a median 10 years of follow-up, 60,968 women were diagnosed with a first primary incident cancer. Inverse linear associations were observed for seven of 19 cancers studied. Each additional year in the age at menarche was associated with reduced risks of endometrial cancer (HR = 0.91; 95% CI, 0.89-0.94), liver cancer (HR = 0.92; 95% CI, 0.85-0.99), melanoma (HR = 0.95; 95% CI, 0.93-0.98), bladder cancer (HR = 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93-0.99), and cancers of the colon (HR = 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99), lung (HR = 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-0.99), and breast (HR = 0.98; 95% CI, 0.93-0.99). All but one of these associations remained statistically significant following adjustment for baseline body mass index. Similarities in the observed associations between menarche and seven cancers suggest shared underlying causes rooted early in life. We propose as a testable hypothesis that early exposure to sex hormones increases mid-life cancer risks by altering functional capacities of stem cells with roles in systemic energy balance and tissue homeostasis. SIGNIFICANCE: Age at menarche is associated with risk for seven cancers in middle-aged women, and understanding the shared underlying causal pathways across these cancers may suggest new avenues for cancer prevention.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Barbara J Fuhrman
- University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas
| | - Steven C Moore
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| | - Celia Byrne
- Uniformed Health Services University, Bethesda, Maryland
| | - Issam Makhoul
- University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas
| | - Cari M Kitahara
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| | | | - Martha S Linet
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| | - Elisabete Weiderpass
- International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Hans-Olov Adami
- Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
- Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Neal D Freedman
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| | - Linda M Liao
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| | - Charles E Matthews
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| | | | - Mia M Gaudet
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
- Epidemiology Research Program, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - Alpa V Patel
- Epidemiology Research Program, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, Georgia
| | - I-Min Lee
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Julie E Buring
- Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Alicja Wolk
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Susanna C Larsson
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Anna E Prizment
- Division of Hematology, Oncology and Transplantation, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota
| | - Kim Robien
- Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Public Health, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia
| | | | - David P Check
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| | - Neil Murphy
- Section of Nutrition and Metabolism, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | - Marc J Gunter
- Section of Nutrition and Metabolism, International Agency for Research on Cancer, World Health Organization, Lyon, France
| | | | - Regina G Ziegler
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| | - Robert N Hoover
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, Maryland
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Neumeyer S, Banbury BL, Arndt V, Berndt SI, Bezieau S, Bien SA, Buchanan DD, Butterbach K, Caan BJ, Campbell PT, Casey G, Chan AT, Chanock SJ, Dai JY, Gallinger S, Giovannucci EL, Giles GG, Grady WM, Hampe J, Hoffmeister M, Hopper JL, Hsu L, Jenkins MA, Joshi A, Larsson SC, Le Marchand L, Lindblom A, Moreno V, Lemire M, Li L, Lin Y, Offit K, Newcomb PA, Pharaoh PD, Potter JD, Qi L, Rennert G, Schafmayer C, Schoen RE, Slattery ML, Song M, Ulrich CM, Win AK, White E, Wolk A, Woods MO, Wu AH, Gruber SB, Brenner H, Peters U, Chang-Claude J. Mendelian randomisation study of age at menarche and age at menopause and the risk of colorectal cancer. Br J Cancer 2018; 118:1639-1647. [PMID: 29795306 PMCID: PMC6008474 DOI: 10.1038/s41416-018-0108-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2017] [Revised: 04/09/2018] [Accepted: 04/11/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Background Substantial evidence supports an association between use of menopausal hormone therapy and decreased colorectal cancer (CRC) risk, indicating a role of exogenous sex hormones in CRC development. However, findings on endogenous oestrogen exposure and CRC are inconsistent. Methods We used a Mendelian randomisation approach to test for a causal effect of age at menarche and age at menopause as surrogates for endogenous oestrogen exposure on CRC risk. Weighted genetic risk scores based on 358 single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with age at menarche and 51 single-nucleotide polymorphisms associated with age at menopause were used to estimate the association with CRC risk using logistic regression in 12,944 women diagnosed with CRC and 10,741 women without CRC from three consortia. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to address pleiotropy and possible confounding by body mass index. Results Genetic risk scores for age at menarche (odds ratio per year 0.98, 95% confidence interval: 0.95–1.02) and age at menopause (odds ratio 0.98, 95% confidence interval: 0.94–1.01) were not significantly associated with CRC risk. The sensitivity analyses yielded similar results. Conclusions Our study does not support a causal relationship between genetic risk scores for age at menarche and age at menopause and CRC risk.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sonja Neumeyer
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Barbara L Banbury
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Volker Arndt
- Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Sonja I Berndt
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9776, USA
| | - Stephane Bezieau
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire (CHU), Nantes Service de Génétique Médicale, 44093, Nantes, France
| | - Stephanie A Bien
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Dan D Buchanan
- Colorectal Oncogenomics Group, Genetic Epidemiology Laboratory, Department of Pathology, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia.,Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Katja Butterbach
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Bette J Caan
- Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program of Northern California, Oakland, 94612, CA, USA
| | - Peter T Campbell
- Epidemiology Research Program, American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, 30329-4251, USA
| | - Graham Casey
- Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 22908, USA
| | - Andrew T Chan
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Stephen J Chanock
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, 20892-9776, USA
| | - James Y Dai
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Steven Gallinger
- Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, ON, M5G 1 X 5, Canada
| | - Edward L Giovannucci
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Graham G Giles
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.,Cancer Epidemiology & Intelligence Division, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - William M Grady
- Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.,Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
| | - Jochen Hampe
- Medical Department 1, University Hospital Dresden, TU Dresden, 01307, Dresden, Germany
| | - Michael Hoffmeister
- Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - John L Hopper
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Li Hsu
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Mark A Jenkins
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
| | - Amit Joshi
- Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Susanna C Larsson
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet Solna, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Loic Le Marchand
- Epidemiology Program, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, 96822, HI, USA
| | - Annika Lindblom
- Department of Clinical Genetics, Karolinska University Hospital Solna, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet Solna, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Victor Moreno
- Catalan Institute of Oncology, Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL), 08028, Barcelona, Spain.,CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), 28029 Madrid, Spain and University of Barcelona, Barcelona, 08007, Spain
| | - Mathieu Lemire
- Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, ON, M5G 0A3, Canada
| | - Li Li
- Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 44106, USA
| | - Yi Lin
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Kenneth Offit
- Department of Medicine, Clinical Genetics Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, 10065, USA
| | - Polly A Newcomb
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Paul D Pharaoh
- Centre for Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, Department of Public Health & Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 8AR, UK
| | - John D Potter
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Lihong Qi
- Department of Public Health Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, 95817, USA
| | - Gad Rennert
- Bruce Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.,Clalit Health Services National Israeli Cancer Control Center, Haifa, 34361, Israel.,Department of Community Medicine and Epidemiology, Carmel Medical Center, Haifa, 34361, Israel
| | - Clemens Schafmayer
- Department of General and Thoracic Surgery, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Campus Kiel, 24118, Kiel, Germany
| | - Robert E Schoen
- Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA
| | - Martha L Slattery
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA
| | - Mingyang Song
- Clinical and Translational Epidemiology Unit and Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.,Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Cornelia M Ulrich
- Huntsman Cancer Institute and Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
| | - Aung K Win
- Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia.,Genetic Medicine and Familial Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, VIC, 3050, Australia
| | - Emily White
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Alicja Wolk
- Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet Solna, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.,Department of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, SE-171 77, Sweden
| | - Michael O Woods
- Faculty of Medicine, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, A1C 5S7, Canada
| | - Anna H Wu
- Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Stephen B Gruber
- Department of Medicine, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 90033, USA
| | - Hermann Brenner
- Division of Clinical Epidemiology and Aging Research, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,Division of Preventive Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany.,German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Ulrike Peters
- Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA, 98124, USA
| | - Jenny Chang-Claude
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), 69120, Heidelberg, Germany. .,Genetic Tumour Epidemiology Group, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, University Cancer Center Hamburg, 20246, Hamburg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|