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Objective To explore the correlation of reproductive factors with thyroid nodules (TNs) in postmenopausal women in Lanzhou, Gansu Province so as to provide reliable strategies for the prevention and treatment of TNs. Methods A total of 2 270 postmenopausal female residents aged 43 and over living in Tianqingjiayuan, Guangwumen and Xicun Street Communities for longer than 5 years in Lanzhou from 2014 to 2016 were recruited as the research objects. The data of menarche age, menopausal age, time of pregnancy, time of delivery, time of abortion and pregnancy complications were surveyed and collected through questionnaires. Thyroid ultrasound examination was performed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the correlation between female reproductive factors and TNs. Results The prevalence of TNs was 60.97% (1 384/2 270) in postmenopausal women in Lanzhou, and the prevalence was increased gradually with the increase of age (Chi-squaretrend=66.761, P

The role of hormonal factors in the etiology of lymphoid neoplasms remains unclear. Previous studies have yielded conflicting results, have lacked sufficient statistical power to assess many lymphoma subtypes, or have lacked detailed information on relevant exposures. Within the European Prospective Investigation Into Cancer and Nutrition cohort, we analyzed comprehensive data on reproductive factors and exogenous hormone use collected at baseline (1992–2000) among 343,458 women, including data on 1,427 incident cases of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) and its major subtypes identified after a mean follow-up period of 14 years (through 2015). We estimated hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals using multivariable proportional hazards modeling. Overall, we observed no statistically significant associations between parity, age at first birth, breastfeeding, oral contraceptive use, or ever use of postmenopausal hormone therapy and risk of B-cell NHL or its subtypes. Women who had undergone surgical menopause had a 51% higher risk of B-cell NHL (based on 67 cases) than women with natural menopause (hazard ratio = 1.51, 95% confidence interval: 1.17, 1.94). Given that this result may have been due to chance, our results provide little support for the hypothesis that sex hormones play a role in lymphomagenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: This large-scale population-based cohort study in Japan was conducted to clarify the effects of menstrual and reproductive factors on the risk of later-life vertebral fractures in women. Significant associations were seen for later menarche, irregular menstruation, and shorter reproductive years, corresponding to the effect of reproductive hormonal disturbance on bone metabolism.Introduction: This study investigated the association between menstrual and reproductive factors and the risk of later-life vertebral fractures in women.Methods: Participants were 43,652 women aged 40-69 years who were followed in the 10-year survey of the Japan Public Health Center-based prospective (JPHC) study. Menstrual/reproductive factors were as follows: age at menarche and menopause, menstrual regularity and cycle length, natural or surgical menopause, years since menopause, reproductive years, parity, age at first birth, number of births, breastfeeding, and female hormone use. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated by logistic regression analysis with adjustment for well-known fracture risk factors and menstrual/reproductive factors.Results: During the 10-year period, 250 women reported first onset of vertebral fractures. Menarche at ≥16 years [OR (95% CI) = 2.08 (1.24-3.48)] compared to ≤ 13 years and irregular menstruation [1.42 (1.01-2.00)] compared to regular menstruation showed significantly higher adjusted ORs. Longer reproductive years had significant inverse association [0.96 (0.92-0.99)] in menopausal women. Women with both menarche ≥ 15 years and irregular menstruation had higher adjusted ORs (95% CI) [2.37 (1.51-3.73) in all women, 2.25 (1.35-3.76) in menopausal women] compared to women without these, and both factors had significant interaction, particularly in menopausal women (additive p = 0.025, multiplicative p = 0.0499).Conclusions: Menstrual and reproductive factors, corresponding to the effect of reproductive hormonal disturbance on bone metabolism, might affect the risk of later-life vertebral fractures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Mechanistic and observational data together support a role for prolactin in breast cancer development. Determinants of prolactin in Asian populations have not been meaningfully explored, despite the lower risk of breast cancer in Asian populations.Methods: Determinants of plasma prolactin were evaluated in 442 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Singapore Chinese Health Study, a population-based prospective cohort study. At baseline all cohort members completed an in-person interview that elicited information on diet, menstrual and reproductive history, and lifestyle factors. One year after cohort initiation we began collecting blood samples. Quantified were plasma concentrations of prolactin, estrone, estradiol, testosterone, androstenedione, and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Analysis of covariance method was used for statistical analyses with age at blood draw, time since last meal, and time at blood draw as covariates.Results: Mean prolactin levels were 25.1% lower with older age at menarche (p value = 0.001), and 27.6% higher with greater years between menarche and menopause (p value = 0.009). Prolactin levels were also positively associated with increased sleep duration (p value = 0.005). The independent determinants of prolactin were years from menarche to menopause, hours of sleep, and the plasma hormones estrone and SHBG (all p values < 0.01).Conclusion: The role of prolactin in breast cancer development may involve reproductive and lifestyle factors, such as a longer duration of menstrual cycling and sleep patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Albania, breast cancer is an important cause of death among women, with increasing incidence from 65 cases in 1970, to 400 cases in 2007. This is the first study concerning breast cancer risk factors in Albania. We used a population-based case-control study of 948 women with breast cancer compared with 1019 controls recruited from other hospitals through random selection. Early age at menarche was found to be a significantly strong risk factor during the pre- and postmenopausal groups with OR 10.04 and 12.1, respectively. In addition, nulliparity is associated with higher risk while abortion did not indicate any influence in the multivariate model. The findings from this study have shown that reproductive and menstrual variables are significant predictors of breast cancer risk in Albanian women, as seen in studies of other western countries.

Gastric cancer incidence varies greatly worldwide, but is consistently twice as high in men than in women. The hormone-related factors hypothesized to be associated with lower risk of gastric cancer in women have not been fully explored in populations with a high background risk of gastric cancer. The Singapore Chinese Health Study (SCHS) is a prospective cohort study in which 34,022 of the participants enrolled between 1993 and 1998 were women between 45 and 74 years of age. Information on reproductive histories, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and oral contraceptive (OC) use was collected through in-person interviews at baseline. As of December 31, 2013, 269 incident gastric cancer cases were identified. Multivariable-adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate gastric cancer risk associations. Older age at natural menopause (≥55 versus <45 years: HR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.25-0.99), type of menopause (other versus natural: HR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.27-0.87) and greater years of menstrual cycling (fourth versus first quartile: HR = 0.67, 95% CI: 0.46-0.96) were associated with a decreased risk of gastric cancer. Ever use of OCs and HRT was also associated with reduced risk of gastric cancer; the multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% CIs) were 0.40 (0.17-0.90) for use of HRT >3 years and 0.67 (0.47-0.94) for ever use of OCs, compared with never use. Reproductive factors associated with a longer window of fertility and the use of exogenous hormones were shown to reduce gastric cancer development in a cohort of Chinese women with a high background risk of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strikingly higher rates of papillary thyroid cancer in women compared with men suggest that hormonal factors may be involved in the development of this cancer. A number of independent studies have investigated the association between hormonal factors and papillary thyroid cancer risk in women but yielded conflicting and inconclusive findings. We performed a meta-analysis of all currently published studies to provide better estimates for the risk of papillary thyroid cancer related to menstrual, reproductive, and other hormonal factors in women. Six cohort studies and three case-control ones were included into our study after a comprehensive literature search. The pooled relative risk (RR) with 95 % confidence interval (95 % CI) implicated that late age at menopause was associated with an increased risk of papillary thyroid cancer (RR = 1.39, 95 % CI 1.03-1.89, P = 0.032). No significant association was demonstrated between papillary thyroid cancer risk and other hormone-related factors, including oral contraceptive, hormone replacement therapy, age at menarche, parity, age at first birth, menopausal status, and breast feeding. Subgroup analysis by study design confirmed those associations. Sensitivity analysis did not materially alter the pooled results. The meta-analysis firstly suggests that late age at menopause is a risk factor for papillary thyroid cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Thyroid cancer has a higher incidence in women than in men, and it has been hypothesized that hormonal factors may explain such disparity. We performed a meta-analysis of observational prospective studies to investigate the association between menstrual and reproductive variables and exogenous hormone use and the risk of thyroid cancer among women. Methods: We calculated summary relative risks and 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI) using random effect models. Results: Overall, 5,434 thyroid cancer cases from twenty-four papers were included. Increasing age at first pregnancy/birth (SRR 1.56, 95 % CI 1.01-2.42) and hysterectomy (SRR 1.43, 95 % CI 1.15-1.78) were associated with thyroid cancer risk. Women that were in menopause at enrolment had a reduced thyroid cancer risk (SRR 0.79, 95 % CI 0.62-1.01). No other menstrual, reproductive, and hormonal variable was associated with thyroid cancer risk. Conclusions: Menstrual and reproductive factors may play a role in the etiology of thyroid cancer, possibly through the mediation of estrogen receptors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Differentiated thyroid carcinoma (TC) is threefold more common in women than in men and, therefore, a role of female hormones in the etiology of differentiated TC has been suggested. We assessed these hypotheses in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. Among 345,157 women (mean age 51) followed for an average of 11 years, 508 differentiated TC cases were identified. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using Cox proportional hazards regression models. No significant associations were observed between differentiated TC risk and number of pregnancies, breast feeding, menopausal status, and age at menarche and at menopause. Significant associations were found with history of infertility problems (HR 1.70; 95% CI 1.12-2.60), a recent pregnancy (HR for ≤5 vs. >5 years before recruitment 3.87; 95% CI 1.43-10.46), menopause type (HR for surgical vs. natural menopause: 2.16; 95% CI 1.41-3.31), oral contraceptive (OC) use at recruitment (HR: 0.48; 95% CI 0.25-0.92) and duration of OC use (HR for ≥9 vs. ≤1 year: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.50-0.89). An increased risk was also found with hormone replacement therapy use at recruitment (HR = 1.30, 95% CI 1.02-1.67), but this was not significant after adjustment for type of menopause (HR = 1.22, 95% CI 0.95-1.57). Overall, our findings do not support a strong role of reproductive and menstrual factors, and female hormone use in the etiology of differentiated TC. The few observed associations may be real or accounted for by increased surveillance in women who had infertility problems, recent pregnancies or underwent surgical menopause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Considering the physical, emotional and psychological complications of early or delayed menopause on women's life, it is necessary to determine associated factors of menopause age. This study designed to determine menopausal age and associated factors in women of Gorgan, i.e. the capital of Golestan province in the north-east of Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 804 menopausal women in Gorgan were selected via two-stage sampling method in 2009. The study included only women who had undergone natural menopause and had their last menstrual bleeding at least one year before. Data were gathered through structured questionnaire that included individual characteristics, socioeconomic characteristics, menstrual and fertility characteristics and climacteric complaints. Socioeconomic status was defined using principal component analysis. Data were analyzed with Tstudent's and ANOVA tests using SPSS version 16 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) for Windows. Results: The mean menopause age was 47.6±4.45 years with the median age of 48 years. The mean menopause age in women with first pregnancy before 30 years (47.58±4.47years), without pregnancy (46.26±4.90years) and without delivery (46.30±4.47years) was significantly lower than others (p<0.01). The mean menopause age was lower in single women (46.6±2.80 years), with low income level (47.7±4.39years) and smokers (47.6±4.45years) compared to others; but these differences were not statistically significant (p> 0.05). Socioeconomic status was not associated significantly with menopause age (p>0.05). Conclusion: This study illustrated that menstrual and fertility factors have influence on menopausal age while socioeconomic factors were not effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The contribution of menstrual and reproductive factors to risk of ductal carcinoma (DCIS) of the breast is poorly understood. Methods: The association between menstrual and reproductive factors and subsequent DCIS risk was examined in Women's Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial participants, in which mammography was protocol mandated. The cohort consisted of 64,060 women, among whom 664 cases of DCIS were ascertained over a median follow-up of 12.0 years. Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: After adjustment for covariates, only older age at menopause (HR ≥ 55 vs. 45-54 : 1.39, 95% CI 1.08-1.79) was significantly associated with risk; however, greater parity (HR ≥ 5 live births vs. 0: 0.70, 95% CI 0.47-1.03), among parous women, and age at first live birth (HR ≥ 30 years relative to <20 years: 1.32, 95% CI 0.92-1.90) were of borderline significance. Age at menarche and months of breast-feeding were not associated with risk. Associations did not differ between high- and low-/moderate-grade DCIS, or by level of body mass index or family history of breast cancer; however, there was a suggestion that the associations of age at menopause, parity, and age at first live birth were limited to women who had ever used hormone therapy. Conclusions: Findings from this large cohort of postmenopausal women suggest that age at menopause, and possibly, age at first live birth, and parity are associated with risk of DCIS, whereas age at menarche and duration of breast-feeding are not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study related to reproductive and hormonal factors and the risk of nonsmall cell lung cancer. The study reveals that estrogen may play a direct role in lung tumorigenesis. According to the study, women have more susceptibilities than men to lung cancer for the same number of cigarette smoking. Several charts related to the study are also presented.

Abstract: Objective: We analyzed the relation between factors related to endogenous female hormones and the risk of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Study design: We used a combined dataset from three Italian case–control studies, including 609 women with non-fatal AMI and 1106 controls hospitalized for acute conditions. Results: The odds ratios (OR) of AMI were 1.36 (95% confidence intervals, CI 0.95–1.96) in women with an irregular menstrual pattern compared to a regular one, and 1.45 (95% CI 1.07–1.97) in parae compared to nulliparae, without linear trend in risk with number of children. No relation was found with menopausal status, age at menarche and menopause, abortion, and age at first and last birth. Compared to women without abortions the OR was 0.84 (95% CI 0.60–1.18) for >1 abortion; compared to women without spontaneous or induced abortion, the ORs were 0.92 (95% CI 0.62–1.38) for >1 spontaneous and 0.63 (95% CI 0.36–1.08) for >1 induced abortion. The association of parity and irregular menstrual cycles was stronger in pre-/peri-menopausal women and in current smokers. Compared to nonsmokers with regular menstrual cycle, the OR was 5.98 (95% CI 3.38–10.56) for smokers with irregular one, and compared to nonsmokers nulliparae the OR for smokers parae was 4.77 (95% CI 3.12–7.29). Conclusions: Irregular menstrual cycles and parity were related to increased AMI risk, mainly among pre-/peri-menopausal women and among smokers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aim. To study the influence of established risk factors for ovarian cancer in women with a family history of ovarian and/or breast cancer.Methods. Italian hospital-based case-control study. Cases were 1031 women with incident epithelial ovarian cancer and controls were 2411 women. Two “Adult life risk scores” (ALRS) were defined combining the effect of hormonal and lifestyle risk factors.Results. Ovarian cancer risk increased with low number of children, late menopause, never or short oral contraceptive use, physical inactivity, rich red meat intake and low fish, pulse and vegetable intake. For hormonal factors, compared to women without a family history and low ALRS, the odds ratios (OR) was 1.77 for women without family history and high ALRS, 2.51 for women with family history and low ALRS and 5.99 for women with family history and high ALRS. The corresponding values for the lifestyle ALRS were 2.00, 2.24 and 7.43.Conclusions. Intervention on selected hormonal and lifestyle risk factors might be more important for women with family history of ovarian and/or breast cancer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In order to analyze risk factors for dysmenorrhoea, we conducted a case-control study. Cases were 106 women (median age 27 years) with moderate or severe dysmenorrhoea lasting 12 months or more. Controls were 145 women (median age 26 years) without dysmenorrhoea, admitted for routine gynecological examination at the outpatient gynecological services of the same clinic where cases had been identified. In comparison with women reporting short menstrual cycles (every 25 days or less) the relative risk (RR) of dysmenorrhoea was 2.0 and 2.6, respectively, in those reporting their menstrual cycles of 26–30 days and of 31 days or more, and the RR was 3.6 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.0– 13.4) for women reporting totally irregular menstrual cycles. The estimated RRs were, in comparison with women reporting menstrual flows lasting 4 days or less, respectively 2.2 and 1.9 in those reporting menstrual flows lasting 5 and 6 days or more. Fourty-four (58%) cases but only seven (5%) controls reported heavy menstrual flows (RR in comparison with women reporting slight or normal menstrual flow 12.6, 95% CI: 5.0–32.1). As regards dietary factors, no associations emerged between the various food items, with the exception of cheese and eggs, which tended to be more frequently consumed by cases than controls. The results of this study suggest that the risk of dysmenorrhoea is higher in women with irregular, long and heavy menstrual flows. No association emerged between reproductive history and dysmenorrhoea. Likewise, no clear relationship emerged between intake of several dietary factors and risk dysmenorrhoea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Thyroid cancer (TC) is threefold more common in women than men. Reproductive and menstrual factors may be related to the onset of papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). This study aims to determine the association of reproductive and menstrual factors with PTC in Chinese females., Methods: A total of 335 histologically confirmed cases of PTC were recruited in this case-control study. The controls were matched for age with a deviation of ± 2 years, which conducted from September 2016 to February 2019. Logistic regression models were applied to identify the association of reproductive and menstrual factors with PTC., Results: After adjustment by some variables, early menarche age (OR ≤ 13 years vs. > 13years = 2.40, 95 % CI 1.12-5.13) and shorter lifetime breastfeeding (OR <6 months vs. ≥ 6 months = 1.99, 95 % CI 1.11-3.55) significantly increased the risk of PTC, whereas younger age at first pregnancy had a protective effect against PTC (OR ≤ 24years vs. > 24 years = 0.66, 95 % CI 0.44-0.98). There was a positive correlation between premenopausal and PTC in the lower age group (OR premenopausal vs. Menopause by natural =2.34, 95 %CI 1.03-5.28)., Conclusions: Early menarche age, abortion, shorter breastfeeding duration and premenopausal may be related to the occurrence of PTC. Early age at first pregnancy and larger number of full-time pregnancies were possible to decrease the risk of PTC., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Genome-wide association studies have identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with breast cancer risk. Some of these loci have unknown functional significance and may mediate the effects of hormonal exposures on breast cancer risk. We examined relationships between breast cancer susceptibility variants and menstrual/reproductive factors using data from two population-based studies., Methods: The first analysis was based on a sample of 1328 women age 20-74 who participated as controls in a case-control study of breast cancer conducted in three U.S. states. We evaluated the associations between age at menarche, age at natural menopause and the reproductive lifespan with 13 previously identified breast cancer variants. Associations were also examined with a genetic score created as the sum of at-risk alleles across the 13 variants. For validation, significant results were evaluated in a second dataset comprised 1353 women age 43-86 recruited as part of a cohort study in Wisconsin., Results: Neither the genetic score nor any of the 13 variants considered individually were associated with age at menarche or reproductive lifespan. Two SNPs were associated with age at natural menopause; every increase in the minor allele (A) of rs17468277 (CASP8) was associated with a 1.12 year decrease in menopause age (p=0.02). The minor allele (G) of rs10941679 (5p12) was associated with a 1.01 year increase in age at natural menopause (p=0.01). The results were not replicated in the validation cohort (B=-0.61, p=0.14 and B=-0.01, p=.0.98, respectively)., Conclusions: The evaluated variants and reproductive experiences may work through separate pathways to influence breast cancer risk., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)