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  • Title: The steroid-cancer hypothesis and recent pertinent epidemiological studies.
    Author: Hertz R.
    Journal: J Steroid Biochem; 1979 Jul; 11(1B):435-42. PubMed ID: 491615.
    Abstract:
    Collected epidemiological data on the tumorigenic effects of estrogenic and progestagenic compounds implicate dosage, genetic strain, age, and duration of exposure as critical factors in many species; diethylstilbestrol-associated vaginal carcinomas recently documented extend this concern to humans as well. A negative association between the incidence of benign breast tumors in women and exposure to oral contraceptives (OCs) has been recently established. However, the incidence of breast cancer is shown in a number of case-controlled retrospective studies to be unaffected by OC use, except for certain subsets of statistically inconsequential numbers. In addition, these studies relate to a follow-up period which is too brief for definitive evaluation since the human carcinogenic response is known to take 1-2 decades for expression. The incidence of endometrial carcinoma was found in a number of case-controlled retrospective studies to be increased in women using estrogens for menopausal symptom alleviation. Some of these studies indicated a greater effect with more prolonged usage; however, other studies using a different basis for identification of controls failed to demonstrate an increased incidence of endometrial cancer in estrogen-treated postmenopausal women. Clearly, the currently available epidemiological data provide presumptive but not conclusive evidence of an increased incidence of endometrial cancer in menopausal women treated with estrogen. More definitive studies are needed to determine the precise incidences of endometrial cancer relative to treated and untreated postmenopausal women.
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