Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0476089 (endometrial cancer)
 11,379 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To explore further the relation between infertility and breast and female reproductive cancers, cancer incidence among 2,632 Israeli women treated for infertility between 1964 and 1974 was evaluated. Cancer incidence through December 1981 was determined by matching the study cohort to the Israel Cancer Registry. The observed number of cancers was compared with sex-age-ethnic and calendar-year, site-specific national cancer rates. There were 42 cancers observed compared with 37.4 expected, yielding a standardized incidence ratio of 1.1 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.8-1.5). Analysis by infertility diagnosis demonstrated no significant excess of total cancer incidence; the standardized incidence ratio was 1.3 (95% CI = 0.8-1.8) for infertility due to hormonal deficiency, 0.7 (95% CI = 0.3-1.4) for mechanical infertility, 1.6 (95% CI = 0.6-3.6) for infertility of the male partner, and 1.1 (95% CI = 0.5-2.2) for unclassified diagnosis. Site-specific analyses revealed a significantly increased risk (8.0; 95% CI = 2.5-19.3; four cases observed, 0.50 expected) of endometrial cancer for the hormonal group and a nonsignificant excess of breast cancer and melanoma. Although numbers were small, women with disorders causing unopposed estrogen production had a risk of 1.4 (95% CI = 0.8-2.2) for all cancer sites, which reached 10.3 (95% CI = 2.6-28.2; three cases observed, 0.29 expected) for endometrial cancer and 1.8 (95% CI = 0.8-3.4; eight cases observed, 4.43 expected) for breast cancer. Among women with nonhormonal infertility, there was a suggestion of increased risks of carcinoma of the ovary (3.2; 95% CI = 0.3-32.9; two cases observed, 0.63 expected) and thyroid (3.0; 95% CI = 0.3-24.6; two cases observed; 0.67 expected). No evidence of an association between ovulation-inducing drugs and cancer was found. This study supports the hypothesis that infertility caused by hormone deficiency is a risk factor for uterine cancer, but is inconclusive regarding breast cancer.
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PMID:Cancer incidence in a cohort of infertile women. 356 53

Given the rapidly increasing number of women above 50 it is of pivotal importance to consider health issues related to gonadal hormone deficiency. The possibility of alleviating such symptoms by hormone replacement therapy (HRT) should be recognized by all physicians, not merely by gynaecologists. But which women should be given what therapy, and for how long? Due to the increased risk of endometrial cancer and bleeding problems when using oestrogen monotherapy, only women who have undergone hysterectomy could use this regimen unless treatment is aimed at amelioration of urogenital symptomatology only. In this case a vaginal administration of low-dose oestrogens is possible as such doses do not induce endometrial proliferation. In all other cases a combination of an oestrogen and a progestogen must be used. There are several options for doing so. During the early phase of the climacteric period when irregular and/or heavy vaginal bleeds are part of the symptomatology a cyclical therapy will often combat these problems. As women pass into the menopause a sequential regimen is often preferred until 1-3 years have elapsed since menopause. With advancing time since menopause women become more and more reluctant to experience monthly bleeds. In such cases a continuous combined regimen may be offered even though it cannot guarantee a bleed-free remedy.Non-oral, particularly transdermal, therapy is an alternative in women with co-existing morbidity such as migraine, diabetes, malfunction of the gastrointestinal tract and liver disease. Oral therapy is preferred particularly in women with elevated plasma levels of LDL-cholesterol, lipoprotein(a) or homocysteine. Oral therapy induces liver protein synthesis. This could be an advantage in cases with low plasma levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) as low levels of SHBG may promote androgenic stigmata such as hirsutism and a lowering of the voice. However, in cases with too low an androgen influence the use of a non-oral therapy may counteract symtoms such as low libido.Tibolone could be used for the prevention (and treatment?) of osteoporosis but it will also mitigate the typical climacteric symptoms. Raloxifene is a fairly new type of drug which is classified as a selective oestrogen receptor modulator (SERM). It will reduce vertebral fractures to the same extent as bisphosphonates, albeit the increase in bone density is less. Raloxifene has no effect on climacteric symptoms. Its greatest benefit is a clear reduction of breast cancer in women, which is in contrast to HRT/ERT.There are insufficent data on tibolone and the incidence of breast cancer. Experimental data, however, are intriguing in suggesting less impact on the breast than conventional HRT/ERT.
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PMID:The role of ERT/HRT. 1209 68

Menopause has been chosen by evolution as the convergence of three factors, namely cessation of ovarian function (reproduction and estrogen secretion), high circulating dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and intracrine enzymes able to convert DHEA into active sex steroids in peripheral tissues. The arrest of estrogen secretion by the ovaries at menopause causes a decrease of circulating estradiol below the threshold of biological activity, thus eliminating stimulation of the endometrium and risk of endometrial cancer. As much as the arrest of secretion of estradiol by the ovaries is essential to protect the uterus, it is of major importance that sex steroids continue to be made available in most other tissues which need estrogens and/or androgens for their normal functioning. Evolution, through 500 million years, has progressively provided the peripheral tissues with the enzymes able to make androgens and estrogens while high levels of DHEA, the precursor of all sex steroids, have appeared much later with the primates approximately 20 million years ago. All elements were thus in place for the functioning of intracrinology or the cell-specific formation of estrogens and androgens in peripheral tissues from the inactive precursor DHEA, with no significant release of active sex steroids in the circulation, thus eliminating the risks of adverse effects in the other tissues, especially the uterus. The presence of subthreshold levels of circulating estradiol combined with the formation of sex steroids from DHEA in specific peripheral tissues (intracrinology) makes menopause a positive characteristic supporting many years of good-quality postmenopausal life, useful for taking care of children and grandchildren. DHEA, however, decreases with age and is present at very different concentrations between different women, with the consequence that approximately 75% of postmenopausal women have too low circulating DHEA levels and suffer from symptoms/signs of hormone deficiency.
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PMID:DHEA and intracrinology at menopause, a positive choice for evolution of the human species. 2312 49