Abstract
Dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate are steroids which may be associated with the development of breast cancer. To examine the association between serum levels of dehydroepiandrosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and the risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer, we measured hormone levels in 15 women who donated blood to a community-based serum bank in 1974 and who subsequently developed premenopausal breast cancer and in 29 matched controls from the same group of volunteers. The mean serum level of dehydroepiandrosterone among cases was 10% lower than among controls. The risk of developing breast cancer for women in the highest tertile compared with the lowest tertile of serum dehydroepiandrosterone was 0.40 with a suggestion of a dose-response trend with increasing levels. No consistent association between dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and the risk of premenopausal breast cancer was evident. In contrast to postmenopausal breast cancer, a protective effect of dehydroepiandrosterone against premenopausal breast cancer is suggested, but because of the small sample size, the results of this study need to be replicated by others.
Footnotes
-
↵1 This investigation was supported by USPHS Grants CA36390 and PO1 CA44530 from the National Cancer Institute. K. J. H. is a recipient of a Preventive Oncology Academic Award from the National Cancer Institute. G. B. G. is a recipient of a W. M. Keck Foundation Clinical Scientist Award from The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. G. W. C. is a recipient of Career Research Award HL21670 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
-
↵2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at the Department of Epidemiology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205.
- Received February 22, 1991.
- Accepted October 18, 1991.
- ©1992 American Association for Cancer Research.
Volume 52, Issue 1
