• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Prolactin and Risk of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
  • Contributor: Hathaway, Cassandra A.; Rice, Megan S.; Townsend, Mary K.; Hankinson, Susan E.; Arslan, Alan A.; Buring, Julie E.; Hallmans, Göran; Idahl, Annika; Kubzansky, Laura D.; Lee, I-Min; Lundin, Eva A.; Sluss, Patrick M.; Zeleniuch-Jacquotte, Anne; Tworoger, Shelley S.
  • imprint: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), 2021
  • Published in: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention
  • Language: English
  • DOI: 10.1158/1055-9965.epi-21-0139
  • ISSN: 1055-9965; 1538-7755
  • Keywords: Oncology ; Epidemiology
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: <jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Background:</jats:title> <jats:p>Prolactin is synthesized in the ovaries and may play a role in ovarian cancer etiology. One prior prospective study observed a suggestive positive association between prolactin levels and risk of ovarian cancer.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods:</jats:title> <jats:p>We conducted a pooled case–control study of 703 cases and 864 matched controls nested within five prospective cohorts. We used unconditional logistic regression to calculate adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association between prolactin and ovarian cancer risk. We examined heterogeneity by menopausal status at blood collection, body mass index (BMI), age, and histotype.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results:</jats:title> <jats:p>Among women with known menopausal status, we observed a positive trend in the association between prolactin and ovarian cancer risk (Ptrend = 0.045; OR, quartile 4 vs. 1 = 1.34; 95% CI = 0.97–1.85), but no significant association was observed for premenopausal or postmenopausal women individually (corresponding OR = 1.38; 95% CI = 0.74–2.58; Ptrend = 0.32 and OR = 1.41; 95% CI = 0.93–2.13; Ptrend = 0.08, respectively; Pheterogeneity = 0.91). In stratified analyses, we observed a positive association between prolactin and risk for women with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2, but not BMI &amp;lt; 25 kg/m2 (corresponding OR = 2.68; 95% CI = 1.56–4.59; Ptrend &amp;lt; 0.01 and OR = 0.90; 95% CI = 0.58–1.40; Ptrend = 0.98, respectively; Pheterogeneity &amp;lt; 0.01). Associations did not vary by age, postmenopausal hormone therapy use, histotype, or time between blood draw and diagnosis.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusions:</jats:title> <jats:p>We found a trend between higher prolactin levels and increased ovarian cancer risk, especially among women with a BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Impact:</jats:title> <jats:p>This work supports a previous study linking higher prolactin with ovarian carcinogenesis in a high adiposity setting. Future work is needed to understand the mechanism underlying this association.</jats:p> </jats:sec>
  • Access State: Open Access