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Lifetime menstrual activity — Indicator of breast cancer risk

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Abstract

A case-control study of 67 cases of breast cancer and 157 controls was conducted to investigate the role of different behavioral, reproductive, and hormonal factors and to develop a unifying indicator of breast cancer risk. The results confirm previous reports of the influence of smoking on the risk of breast cancer. Age at menarche was found to be a risk factor among the premenopausa women. Late age at menopause was suggestive of an increase in risk. Long use of oral contraceptive or estrogen supplementation were risk-enhancing both pre- and postmenopausally. Lifetime duration of menstrual activity (LMA) combines age at menarche and menopause, parity, and lactation into a biologically plausible model. Our findings concerning LMA support its role as a determinant of breast cancer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Public Health Institute, Kalliolinnantie 4, SF-00140, Helsinki, Finland

    M. Rautalahti, J. Virtamo, J. Palmgren, J. Haukka & O. P. Heinonen

  2. National Cancer Institute, USA

    D. Albanes

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  1. M. Rautalahti
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Rautalahti, M., Albanes, D., Virtamo, J. et al. Lifetime menstrual activity — Indicator of breast cancer risk. Eur J Epidemiol 9, 17–25 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00463085

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