Infertility-associated endometrial cancer risk may be limited to specific subgroups of infertile women.
Data from previous studies suggest that infertility is a risk factor for endometrial cancer. We used data from the Cancer and Steroid Hormone Study to further characterize this relationship. The subject group comprised 399 women ages 20-54 with newly diagnosed epithelial endometrial cancer ascertained through six cancer registries. The control group comprised 3040 women in the same age range selected by random-digit telephone dialing from the same geographic areas where cancer patients resided. Compared with women who reported no fertility problem, women with physician-diagnosed infertility who had reported at least 2 years of infertility had an odds ratio for endometrial cancer, adjusted for age, of 1.7 (95% confidence interval 1.1-2.6). Women who reported infertility resulting from ovarian factors had an adjusted odds ratio of 4.2 (95% confidence interval 1.7-10.4). These results suggest that factors such as anovulation may explain much of the increased risk of endometrial cancer found among subgroups of infertile women.
Escobedo
L G
LG
Division of Reproductive Health, Center for Disease Control, Atlanta, Georgia.
Lee
N C
NC
Peterson
H B
HB
Wingo
P A
PA
D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D012307:Risk Factors; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*