Reproductive factors and risk of meningioma and glioma.
Female sex hormones have previously been suggested as possible risk factors for brain tumors, but published studies have reported conflicting results. We conducted a population-based case-control study of glioma (n=626) and meningioma (n=906) cases and randomly selected controls stratified on age and geographic region (n=1,774) in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. Unconditional logistic regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) for glioma and meningioma in relation to reproductive factors. A decreased glioma risk was associated with ever-pregnancy compared with never-pregnancy [OR, 0.8; 95% confidence interval (95% CI), 0.6-1.0]. Meningioma risk among women ages <50 years was increased in relation to number of pregnancies leading to a live birth (OR, 1.8; 95% CI: 1.1-2.8 for giving birth to 3 children compared with nulliparous women; P(trend) among parous women=0.01). This relation was not found for older women. Breast-feeding among parous women increased the glioma risk (OR, 2.2; 95% CI, 1.3-3.9 for breast-feeding 36 months or more compared with breast-feeding 3 months or less). Menopausal status and age at menopause were not associated with meningioma or glioma risk. Our findings imply that reproductive hormones may influence the occurrence of meningioma and glioma.
Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. annette.wigertz@ki.se
Annette
A
Wigertz
Stefan
S
Lönn
Per
P
Hall
Anssi
A
Auvinen
Helle Collatz
HC
Christensen
Christoffer
C
Johansen
Lars
L
Klaeboe
Tiina
T
Salminen
Minouk J
MJ
Schoemaker
Anthony J
AJ
Swerdlow
Tore
T
Tynes
Maria
M
Feychting
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005910:Glioma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006728:Hormones / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008572:Menarche; D008579:Meningioma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
D006728:Hormones