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Serum prolactin levels are positively associated with mammographic density in postmenopausal women

  • Epidemiology
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Prolactin is a polypeptide hormone that promotes normal breast proliferation and differentiation, but it is also implicated in the development and growth of mammary tumors. Mammographic density is a strong, independent predictor of breast cancer and, therefore, a potential surrogate indicator of breast cancer risk.

Methods

To test the hypothesis that serum prolactin is positively related to mammographic density, we conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Interventions (PEPI) Mammographic Density Study. Based on prior work, we further hypothesized that this association would be apparent only in women who had not recently used postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT).

Results

In linear regression models adjusted for age, body mass index, race, smoking, alcohol use, parity and physical activity, among the 400 women who were not recent users of HT, prolactin was positively and statistically significantly associated with mammographic density (Beta log base 2 prolactin 0.0369 [95% CI: 0.0094–0.0645]. Thus, for each doubling of serum prolactin, there was an absolute increase in mammographic density of 3.69%. Additional adjustment for serum levels of estradiol, progesterone, sex hormone binding globulin and age at first pregnancy did not affect this result. There was no association between prolactin and mammographic density among the 169 participants who had recently used HT.

Conclusion

The correspondence between higher prolactin and higher mammographic density is consistent with prolactin’s mitogenic properties and the associations between prolactin and breast tumor promotion. These results support the thesis that prolactin deserves investigation as a target for breast cancer risk reduction.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the women who generously participated in the Postmenopausal Estrogen/Progestin Intervention Trial.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Geriatrics, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, 10945 Le Conte Avenue, Suite 2339, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1687, USA

    Gail A. Greendale, Mei-Hua Huang, Carolyn Crandall & Arun Karlamangla

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Giske Ursin, Sue Ingles & Frank Stanczyk

  3. Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Gail A. Laughlin & Elizabeth Barrett-Connor

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  1. Gail A. Greendale
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  2. Mei-Hua Huang
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Correspondence to Gail A. Greendale.

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Greendale, G.A., Huang, MH., Ursin, G. et al. Serum prolactin levels are positively associated with mammographic density in postmenopausal women. Breast Cancer Res Treat 105, 337–346 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-006-9454-y

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