Copyright © 2000, Institute for Scientific Information Inc.
(1) TI: Unopposed oestrogen and survival of breast cancer
AU: Badwe_RA, Bhansali_MS, Vaidya_JS
JN: BREAST, 1998, Vol.7, No.2, pp.66-71
AB: It has been suggested that survival of breast cancer patients
may be affected by their hormonal milieu. the level of
circulating oestrogen in a woman's body changes with the phase
of menstrual cycle, the amount of body fat and her menopausal
status. We examined whether these factors affect survival from
breast cancer. Meta-analysis of relevant literature for age
(reflecting menopausal status; 22 studies), timing of surgery
during the menstrual cycle in premenopausal women (28 studies)
and body weight in postmenopausal women (18 studies), was
carried out to determine the effect of unopposed oestrogen at
the time of surgery on survival in breast cancer. The meta-
analyses revealed a significantly better survival in
premenopausal vs postmenopausal patients (OR 0.76, CI 0.74-
0.78, 2P < 0.0000001), in patients who were operated in the
luteal vs follicular phase of the menstrual cycle (OR 0.87, CI
0.79-0.97, 2P < 0.02), and in postmenopausal women who were not
obese vs obese (OR 0.64, CI 0.59-0.70 2P < 0.0000001). These
data indicate that unopposed oestrogen at the time of surgery
may have a deleterious effect on survival in women of all ages.
It prompts future research into changing the hormonal milieu at
the time of surgery as a means of improving survival.