Newswise — Some who experience menopause early may be at increased risk for developing breast cancer, according to research led by scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah (the U) and the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the U. Researchers found that women who underwent menopause before age 46 were nearly twice as likely to have breast cancer as other women of similar ages. Their relatives were also more likely to have breast, prostate, or colon cancer.
The study is published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism . Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI), a condition that occurs when the ovaries stop working properly because of the early loss of eggs, causes some people to go through menopause at a relatively young age. “When women go through primary ovarian insufficiency they are at risk for a number of diseases like osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease,” says the study’s senior author Corrine Welt, MD , an endocrinologist and researcher in the Department of Internal Medicine at the U.
“Our results suggest some of these women should be monitored over their lifetimes for cancer risk as well.” “This work has increased an understanding of the relationship between primary ovarian insufficiency and reproductive cancers, which could guide preventive strategies,” says study co-author Nicola Camp, PhD , a cancer genetic epidemiologist at Huntsman Cancer Institute and director of the Utah Population Database (UPDB). Th.