Women who go through early menopause are at a higher risk of getting breast cancer. This is according to new research from scientists at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah.
Early menopause occurs when a woman’s menstrual periods stop before the age of 45. This is different from premature menopause, which happens before age 40. Sometimes, there’s no clear reason why early menopause occurs. Certain autoimmune diseases or genetic conditions can contribute to it and the removal of both ovaries can induce immediate menopause. And smoking can accelerate the onset of menopause.
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The 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.
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.
Prior studies found that some of the mutations believed to cause the reproductive health condition were similar to those involved in cancer, explained the new study’s authors. The correlation prompted the research team to investigate whether these individuals had a higher risk of cancer compared to the general population. They also analyzed women with a related condition, early menopause, which occurs between ages 40 to 45. The women in the study developed breast cancer at almost two times the rate of the general population.
The study compared cancer rates in women with POI and their relatives to population averages to determine relative cancer risk. A subset of women underwent whole genome sequencing.
Evidence suggests shared genetic factors between premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and reproductive cancers. Developing tools to predict cancer risk in women with POI is essential. These tools could also inform decisions about hormone replacement therapy.
“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 University of Utah. “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).
According to the researchers, the connections between early menopause and cancer lie deep within our body’s cells. To uncover these links, the scientists examined the DNA of six women. Each had an unusual variation in one of the genes that keeps our cells healthy. According to Welt, defects in these basic processes could both compromise the health of ovaries and increase the likelihood of uncontrolled cell division, a hallmark of cancer.
