Impact of menopausal status on the behavior of pancreatic cystic neoplasms in women.
OBJECTIVE
Pancreatic cystic neoplasms have predilections for occurring in young women, for containing "ovarian-like" stroma, and for expressing estrogen and progesterone receptors; these factors suggest a potentially important influence of the hormonal milieu on the biology of these tumors. Therefore, we examined the impact of menopausal status on the clinical features of pancreatic cystic neoplasms in women.


METHODS
Seventy-six women with pancreatic cystic neoplasms treated at our institution from 1992 to 2003 were classified into 2 groups according to menopausal status based on the U.S. average menopausal age of 51 years: group I (premenopausal, ages 22-50; n = 36) and group II (postmenopausal, ages 51-80; n = 40). Chi-square and the 2-tailed t-tests compared categorical and continuous variables, respectively. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were determined and compared with the log rank test.


RESULTS
Abdominal pain at presentation occurred more commonly among group I than among group II patients (78% vs 48%, p < 0.05). Solid pseudopapillary tumors were more prevalent among group I than among group II patients (21% vs 3%, p = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
The clinicopathologic features of pancreatic cystic neoplasms in premenopausal women are not significantly different from those in postmenopausal women. Menopausal status should not bias diagnostic and treatment algorithms for women with these neoplasms.
Moore
Kimberly A
KA
Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Ito
Hiromichi
H
Clancy
Thomas E
TE
Burgess
Anne
A
Zinner
Michael J
MJ
Whang
Edward E
EE
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003536:Cystadenocarcinoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003537:Cystadenoma / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012737:Sex Factors