title: Exogenous hormone use, reproductive factors, and risk of intracranial meningioma in females.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The 2-fold higher incidence of meningioma in women compared with men has long suggested a role for hormonally mediated risk factors, but specific mechanisms remain elusive.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included data obtained in 1127 women 29-79 years of age with intracranial meningioma diagnosed among residents of Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, the San Francisco Bay Area, and 8 Texas counties between May 1, 2006, and October 6, 2011, and data obtained in 1092 control individuals who were frequency matched for age group and geography with meningioma patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No association was observed for age at menarche, age at menopause, or parity and meningioma risk. Women who reported breastfeeding for at least 6 months were at reduced risk of meningioma (OR 0.78, 95% CI 0.63-0.96). A significant positive association existed between meningioma risk and increased body mass index (p < 0.01) while a significant negative association existed between meningioma risk and current smoking (p < 0.01). Among premenopausal women, current use of oral contraceptives was associated with an increased risk of meningiomas (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.1-2.9), while current use of hormone replacement therapy among postmenopausal women was not associated with a significant elevation in risk (OR 1.1, 95% CI 0.74-1.67). There was no association between use of fertility medications and meningioma risk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The authors' study confirms associations for body mass index, breastfeeding, and cigarette smoking but provides little evidence for associations of reproductive and menstrual factors with meningioma risk. The relationship between current use of exogenous hormones and meningioma remains unclear, limited by the small numbers of patients currently on oral hormone medications and a lack of hormone receptor data for meningioma tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520, USA. elizabeth.claus@yale.edu
authors.forename: Elizabeth B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Claus
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Calvocoressi
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Bondy
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wrensch
authors.forename: Joseph L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wiemels
authors.forename: Joellen M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Schildkraut
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001942:Breast Feeding; D003237:Connecticut / Q000453:epidemiology; D003276:Contraceptives, Oral / Q000008:administration & dosage; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts / Q000453:epidemiology; D008572:Menarche; D008577:Meningeal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008579:Meningioma / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D008593:Menopause; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010298:Parity; D012042:Registries; D017584:Reproductive History; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012495:San Francisco / Q000453:epidemiology; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D003276:Contraceptives, Oral