The hormonal profile of benign breast disease

Abstract

Background:Limited information exists about the endocrine milieu of benign breast disease (BBD), a documented breast cancer risk factor. We compared blood levels of estrogens, testosterone and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) between BBD patients by histological type and women without breast pathology.Methods:We studied 578 BBD patients and 178 healthy women in Athens, Greece, who provided blood samples, and completed interviewer-administered questionnaires.Results:Of the BBD patients, 254 had non-proliferative disease, 268 proliferative disease without atypia and 56 atypical hyperplasia. Comparing BBD patients with healthy women, the per cent differences (and 95% confidence intervals) for blood hormones, among pre-menopausal and peri/post-menopausal women, respectively, were: 22.4% (−4.0%, 56.1%) and 32.0% (5.6%, 65.1%) for estradiol; 26.2% (10.1%, 44.8%) and 30.9% (16.8%, 46.6%) for estrone; 19.5% (3.1%, 38.4%) and 16.5% (−5.0%, 42.9%) for testosterone; and −5.2% (−13.8%, 4.4%) and −12.1% (−19.8%, −3.6%) for IGF-1. Steroid hormones tended to be higher in proliferative compared with non-proliferative BBD.Conclusions:Circulating steroid hormones tend to be higher among women with BBD than women with no breast pathology and higher in proliferative than non-proliferative disease; these patterns are more evident among peri/post-menopausal women. In peri/post-menopausal women IGF-1 was lower among women with BBD compared with healthy women.

Hormonal Status of Females in Reproductive Age Group with Benign Breast Disease: A Study of 150 Cases

“…In study of 588 patients conducted in Greece showed that median 10th to 90th percentile of measured oestrogen was 104 pg/ml in benign breast disease patient. 11 Where as in our study it was 100 pg/ml which is very similar to the study of E Samoli et al 2013. In case of fibroadenoma of breast range of serum oestrogen was 14.66-313 pg/ml with the mean ± SD was 76.94±57.69 pg/ml.…”

A prospective study of endometriosis and risk of benign breast disease

“…It is well established that estrogen plays an important role in endometriosis [36], with endometrial lesions depending on circulating estrogen for growth and maintenance [27]. Recent research has found increased levels of steroid hormones, particularly endogenous estrogens among women with BBD compared to healthy controls [38]. Thus, the pathogenesis of both diseases may be regulated through a shared hormonal etiology.…”

Insulin, Estrogen, Inflammatory Markers, and Risk of Benign Proliferative Breast Disease

“…Use of conjugated equine estrogens has been associated with an increased risk of BPBD (14,35,36). Data on the role of endogenous estrogens and BPBD are more limited, although plasma levels of free estradiol have been shown to be significantly higher in women with benign breast disease compared with normal patients (37). Our finding of an association with estradiol levels and risk of BPBD lends support to the idea that increasing levels of estradiol may increase breast cancer risk, at least in part, via their influence on the early stages of breast cancer development.…”