title: Serum follicle-stimulating hormone and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women.
abstract: The "gonadotropin hypothesis" postulates that gonadotropin overstimulation of ovarian epithelium results in its increased proliferation and subsequent malignant transformation. To address this hypothesis, we assessed the association between prediagnostic serum levels of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women who were part of a case-control study nested within three prospective cohorts in New York City, Umeå, Sweden, and Milan, Italy. Case subjects were 88 women with primary invasive epithelial ovarian cancer diagnosed between 3 months and 13.1 years after the blood donation. Controls were 168 women who were free of cancer and matched the case on cohort, age, and enrollment date. Serum FSH was determined using a quantitative immunoradiometric assay. FSH concentrations were similar in women who subsequently received a diagnosis of epithelial ovarian cancer (median, 44.0 mIU/ml; range, 13.8-101.2) and in controls (median, 43.4 mIU/ml; range, 13.5-109.5; P = 0.17). Compared with women in the lowest third, women in the highest third of serum FSH were not at increased risk of epithelial ovarian cancer after an adjustment for potential confounders (odds ratio, 0.85; 95% confidence interval, 0.36-1.99). These observations provide no evidence for an association between circulating FSH and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in postmenopausal women and do not appear to support the gonadotropin hypothesis of epithelial ovarian carcinogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, New York 10016, USA. akhmea01@med.nyu.edu
authors.forename: Alan A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zeleniuch-Jacquotte
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lundin
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Micheli
authors.forename: Annekatrin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lukanova
authors.forename: Yelena
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Afanasyeva
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lenner
authors.forename: Vittorio
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Krogh
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Muti
authors.forename: Sabina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rinaldi
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaaks
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berrino
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hallmans
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Toniolo
mesh_terms: D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D017698:Postmenopause; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D005640:Follicle Stimulating Hormone