title: Hormone Use is Associated with Lymphovascular Invasion in Breast Cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Risk of developing breast cancer increases with short breastfeeding and the use of hormones. The prognosis of breast cancer is better if the tumours are hormone receptor positive. Since breast feeding affects estrogen and progesterone receptors, we wanted to investigate how such reproductive factors as breastfeeding and the use of hormones interact with known prognostic markers and specific tumour characteristics in women with breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 250 women treated for breast cancer from a larger cohort completed a questionnaire on breastfeeding, number and age at births and use of hormones. A logistic regression analysis was made to search for connections between known prognostic markers on the one hand (type of cancer, grade, tumor size, estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor, lymphovascular invasion and DNA-ploidy) and reproductive data, breastfeeding, and hormone use on the other.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hormone use, but not breastfeeding, was significantly associated, also on multivariate analysis, with the prognostic variable lymphovascular invasion, connected to a worse prognosis. No other hormone use or breast feeding correlations with prognostic variables were found.
authors.affiliation: Department Medical and Health Sciences, University of Linkoping, Kalmar, Sweden E-mail : 0485.40311@telia.com.
authors.forename: Margaretha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Loof-Johanson
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brudin
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sundquist
authors.forename: Carl Edvard
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Rudebeck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D018275:Carcinoma, Lobular / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006728:Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D011379:Prognosis; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006728:Hormones; D018719:Erb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine Kinases; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; C508053:ERBB2 protein, human