Study suggests no link between common brain malignancy and hormone therapy
Women are more likely to have such debilitating conditions as osteoporosis, migraines, Alzheimer disease, depression, multiple sclerosis, and brain tumors. Sex hormones are often blamed. However, a new study suggests no link between hormone therapy (HT) and common brain tumors known as gliomas.
The debate over the risks and benefits of HT has been ongoing for more than 2 decades. Key to the debate are possible effects on brain and breast health, as well as cancer risks, which counter the proven benefits of hormones in alleviating such common menopause symptoms as hot flushes, mood swings, and vaginal dryness. Glioma, a common brain malignancy with limited effective treatments, is one type of cancer that consistently shows a sex disparity of roughly 1.6. It has been speculated that the disparity is a result of the potential contribution of both exogenous and endogenous sex hormones.
Previous smaller studies have yielded inconsistent findings concerning the relationship between HT and glioma risk. However, a new large-scale study that analysed data from more than 75,000 women and included a median follow-up period of nearly 12 years suggests no significant association between HT use and glioma risk. Similarly, no significant associations were found when considering HT status or duration of use. Data was gathered as part of the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.
Abstract
Objective: Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors in adults, and the role of hormone therapy (HT) in their development remains controversial. This study with a cohort design aimed to investigate the association between HT use and glioma risk using the data from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial.
Methods: We analyzed data from 75,335 women, aged 50-78, who were enrolled between 1993 and 2001. The median follow-up period was 11.82 years. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the relationship between HT use and glioma risk, adjusting for various potential confounders.
Results: Over the follow-up period, 101 participants were diagnosed with glioma. After adjusting for relevant variables, there was no significant association between HT use and glioma risk (HR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.75-1.81). Similarly, no significant associations were found when considering HT status or duration of use. However, in subgroup analysis by education, marital status, body mass index, oral contraceptive, hysterectomy, ovariectomy, ever been pregnant, age at menarche, and age at menopause, we found that a significant positive association was only observed in the group with at least college graduate (HR, 3.00; 95% CI, 1.02-8.84). The interaction effect for education was not significant (P = 0.056).
Conclusions: Our findings suggest no overall link between HT use and glioma risk. Further research is needed to confirm these results.
Reference
Jinyu Pan, Chuan Shao, Chao Xu, Gang Zhang, Haotian Jiang, Tao Tang, Hui Tang, Nan Wu. Association between hormone therapy and glioma risk in US women: a cancer screening trial. Menopause. 2025 Jan 14. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000002507. Online ahead of print. PMID: 39808122 DOI: 10.1097/GME.0000000000002507
Content created 30 January 2025