title: Plasma enterolactone and incidence of endometrial cancer in a case-cohort study of Danish women.
abstract: The phyto-oestrogen enterolactone has been hypothesised to protect against hormone-dependent cancers, probably through its antioestrogenic potential. We investigated whether a higher level of plasma enterolactone was associated with a lower incidence of endometrial cancer in a case-cohort study in the ‘Diet, Cancer and Health’ cohort. The cohort study included 29 875 women aged 50–64 years enrolled between 1993 and 1997. Information on diet and lifestyle was provided by self-administrated questionnaires and blood was drawn from each participant. Time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay was used for biochemical determination of plasma enterolactone. A total of 173 cases and 149 randomly selected cohort members were included. We estimated incidence rate ratio (IRR) and 95% CI by a Cox proportional hazards model. A 20 nmol/l higher plasma concentration of enterolactone was associated with a non-significant lower risk of endometrial cancer (IRR 0.93, 95% CI 0.84, 1.04). When excluding women with low enterolactone concentrations (quartile 1) due to potential recent antibiotic use, the association became slightly stronger, but remained non-significant (IRR 0.90, 95% CI 0.79, 1.02). Menopausal status, hormone replacement therapy or BMI did not modify the association. In conclusion, we found some support for a possible inverse association between plasma enterolactone concentration and endometrial cancer incidence.
authors.affiliation: Danish Cancer Society Research Center, Strandboulevarden 49, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aarestrup
authors.forename: Cecilie
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kyrø
authors.forename: Knud E B
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Knudsen
authors.forename: Elisabete
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Weiderpass
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Mette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kristensen
authors.forename: Anne M L
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Würtz
authors.forename: Nina F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Johnsen
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Overvad
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tjønneland
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Olsen
mesh_terms: D015107:4-Butyrolactone / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000097:blood; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D004034:Diet Surveys; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D015200:Fluoroimmunoassay; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D017705:Lignans / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D048789:Phytoestrogens / Q000097:blood*; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D017705:Lignans; D048789:Phytoestrogens; D015107:4-Butyrolactone; C029497:2,3-bis(3'-hydroxybenzyl)butyrolactone