Abstract

Background

Observational studies have consistently reported that postmenopausal hormone therapy use is associated with lower colon cancer risk, but epidemiologic studies examining the associations between circulating concentrations of endogenous estrogens and colorectal cancer have reported inconsistent results.

Methods

We investigated the associations between circulating concentrations of estrone, estradiol, free estradiol, testosterone, free testosterone, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), progesterone, and sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) with colon cancer risk in a nested case-control study of 1028 postmenopausal European women (512 colon cancer cases, 516 matched controls) who were noncurrent users of exogenous hormones at blood collection. Multivariable conditional logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals to evaluate the association between circulating sex hormones and colon cancer risk. We also conducted a dose-response meta-analysis of prospective studies of circulating estrone and estradiol with colorectal, colon, and rectal cancer risk in postmenopausal women. All statistical tests were 2-sided.

Results

In the multivariable model, a nonstatistically significantly positive relationship was found between circulating estrone and colon cancer risk (odds ratio per log2 1-unit increment = 1.17 [95% confidence interval = 1.00 to 1.38]; odds ratioquartile4-quartile1 = 1.33 [95% confidence interval = 0.89 to 1.97], Ptrend = .20). Circulating concentrations of estradiol, free estradiol, testosterone, free testosterone, androstenedione, DHEA, progesterone, and SHBG were not associated with colon cancer risk. In the dose-response meta-analysis, no clear evidence of associations were found between circulating estradiol and estrone concentrations with colorectal, colon, and rectal cancer risk.

Conclusion

Our observational and meta-analysis results do not support an association between circulating concentrations of endogenous sex hormones and colon or rectal cancer in postmenopausal women.

Details

Title
Endogenous Circulating Sex Hormone Concentrations and Colon Cancer Risk in Postmenopausal Women: A Prospective Study and Meta-Analysis
Author
Mori, Nagisa 1 ; Keski-Rahkonen, Pekka 1 ; Gicquiau, Audrey 1 ; Rinaldi, Sabina 1 ; Dimou, Niki 1 ; Harlid, Sophia 2 ; Harbs, Justin 2 ; Bethany Van Guelpen 3 ; Aune, Dagfinn 4 ; Cross, Amanda J 5 ; Tsilidis, Konstantinos K 6 ; Severi, Gianluca 7 ; Kvaskoff, Marina 8 ; Fournier, Agnès 8 ; Kaaks, Rudolf 9 ; Renée Turzanski Fortner 9 ; Schulze, Matthias B 10 ; Jakszyn, Paula 11 ; Maria-Jose Sánchez 12 ; Colorado-Yohar, Sandra M 13 ; Ardanaz, Eva 14 ; Travis, Ruth 15 ; Watts, Eleanor L 15 ; Masala, Giovanna 16 ; Krogh, Vittorio 17 ; Tumino, Rosario 18 ; Sacerdote, Carlotta 19 ; Panico, Salvatore 20 ; Bueno-de-Mesquita, Bas 21 ; Gram, Inger Torhild 22 ; Waaseth, Marit 23 ; Gunter, Marc J 1 ; Murphy, Neil 1 

1  Nutrition and Metabolism Branch, International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France 
2  Department of Radiation Sciences, Oncology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden 
3  Department of Radiation Sciences, Oncology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden 
4  Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, UK; Department of Nutrition, Bjørknes University College, Oslo, Norway; Department of Endocrinology, Morbid Obesity and Preventive Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål, Oslo, Norway 
5  Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, UK 
6  Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Imperial College London, Norfolk Place, London, UK; Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Ioannina School of Medicine, Ioannina, Greece 
7  Paris-Saclay University, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, “Exposome and Heredity” team, CESP, Villejuif, France; Department of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications “G. Parenti,” University of Florence, Florence, Italy 
8  Paris-Saclay University, UVSQ, Inserm, Gustave Roussy, “Exposome and Heredity” team, CESP, Villejuif, France 
9  Department of Cancer Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany 
10  Department of Molecular Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam, Germany 
11  Unit of Nutrition and Cancer, Cancer Epidemiology Research Programme, Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO-IDIBELL), Barcelona, Spain 
12  Escuela Andaluza de Salud Pública (EASP), Granada, Spain; Instituto de Investigación Biosanitaria ibs.GRANADA, Granada, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Granada, Granada, Spain 
13  Department of Epidemiology, Murcia Regional Health Council, IMIB-Arrixaca, Murcia, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid Spain; Research Group on Demography and Health, National Faculty of Public Health, University of Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia 
14  Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), Madrid, Spain; Navarra Public Health Institute, Pamplona, Spain; IdiSNA, Navarra Institute for Health Research, Pamplona, Spain 
15  Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK 
16  Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network—ISPRO, Florence, Italy 
17  Epidemiology and Prevention Unit, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori di Milano, Milan, Italy 
18  Cancer Registry and Histopathology Department, Provincial Health Authority (ASP 7), Ragusa, Italy 
19  Unit of Cancer Epidemiology, Piedmont Children Cancer Registry, Città della Salute e della Scienza University-Hospital and Center for Cancer Prevention (CPO), Turin, Italy 
20  Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Chirurgia, Federico II University, Naples, Italy 
21  Centre for Nutrition, Prevention and Health Services, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands 
22  Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Community Medicine, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway 
23  Department of Pharmacy, The Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway 
Publication year
2021
Publication date
Dec 2021
Publisher
Oxford University Press
e-ISSN
25155091
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1093/jncics/pkab084
ProQuest document ID
3170563498
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press. This work is published under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.