Epidemiology

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Hormone replacement therapy and incidence of central nervous system tumours in the Million Women Study†‡§

  1. Victoria S. Benson¶,*,
  2. Kirstin Pirie,
  3. Jane Green,
  4. Diana Bull,
  5. Delphine Casabonne,
  6. Gillian K. Reeves,
  7. Valerie Beral,
  8. for the Million Women Study Collaborators

Article first published online: 20 JAN 2010

DOI: 10.1002/ijc.25184

Issue

International Journal of Cancer

International Journal of Cancer

Volume 127, Issue 7, pages 1692–1698, 1 October 2010

Additional Information

How to Cite

Benson, V. S., Pirie, K., Green, J., Bull, D., Casabonne, D., Reeves, G. K., Beral, V. and for the Million Women Study Collaborators (2010), Hormone replacement therapy and incidence of central nervous system tumours in the Million Women Study. Int. J. Cancer, 127: 1692–1698. doi: 10.1002/ijc.25184

Author Information

  1. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

  1. Fax: +44-1865-289-610

*Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Richard Doll Building, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford OX3 7LF, United Kingdom

  1. †

    Million Women Study Steering Committee: Joan Austoker, Emily Banks, Valerie Beral, Judith Church, Ruth English, Jane Green, Julietta Patnick, Richard Peto, Gillian Reeves, Martin Vessey and Matthew Wallis.

  2. ‡

    Million Women Study Coordinating Centre Staff: Simon Abbott, Miranda Armstrong, Krys Baker, Angela Balkwill, Vicky Benson, Valerie Beral, Judith Black, Anna Brown, Diana Bull, Benjamin Cairns, James Chivenga, Barbara Crossley, Dave Ewart, Sarah Ewart, Lee Fletcher, Laura Gerrard, Adrian Goodill, Isobel Green, Jane Green, Elizabeth Hilton, Joy Hooley, Sau Wan Kan, Carol Keene, Oksana Kirichek, Nicky Langston, Bette Liu, Maria-Jose Luque, Maria MacGregor, Lynn Pank, Kirstin Pirie, Gillian Reeves, Emma Sherman, Evie Sherry-Starmer, Moya Simmonds, Elizabeth Spencer, Helena Strange, Siân Sweetland, Alison Timadjer, Sarah Tipper, Ruth Travis, Xiaosi Wang, Joanna Watson, Stephen Williams, Lucy Wright, Tienyu Yang and Heather Young.

  3. §

    Collaborating UK NHS Breast Screening Centres: Avon, Aylesbury, Barnsley, Basingstoke, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, Cambridge and Huntingdon, Chelmsford and Colchester, Chester, Cornwall, Crewe, Cumbria, Doncaster, Dorset, East Berkshire, East Cheshire, East Devon, East of Scotland, East Suffolk, East Sussex, Gateshead, Gloucestershire, Great Yarmouth, Hereford and Worcester, Kent, Kings Lynn, Leicestershire, Liverpool, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, North Birmingham, North East Scotland, North Lancashire, North Middlesex, North Nottingham, North of Scotland, North Tees, North Yorkshire, Nottingham, Oxford, Portsmouth, Rotherham, Sheffield, Shropshire, Somerset, South Birmingham, South East Scotland, South East Staffordshire, South Derbyshire, South Essex, South Lancashire, South West Scotland, Surrey, Warrington Halton St. Helens and Knowsley, Warwickshire Solihull and Coventry, West Berkshire, West Devon, West London, West Suffolk, West Sussex, Wiltshire, Winchester, Wirral, Wycombe.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 4 AUG 2010
  2. Article first published online: 20 JAN 2010
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 7 JAN 2010
  4. Manuscript Received: 11 NOV 2009

Funded by

  • Cancer Research UK
  • NHS Breast Screening Programme and Medical Research Council

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Keywords:

  • acoustic neuroma;
  • central nervous system tumour;
  • glioma;
  • hormone replacement therapy;
  • meningioma

Abstract

We examined the relation between the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and the incidence of central nervous system (CNS) tumours in a large prospective study of 1,147,894 postmenopausal women. Women were aged 56.6 years on average at entry, and HRT use was recorded at recruitment and updated, where possible, about 3 years later. During a mean follow-up of 5.3 years per woman, 1,266 CNS tumours were diagnosed, including 557 gliomas, 311 meningiomas and 117 acoustic neuromas. Compared with never users of HRT, the relative risks (RRs) for all incident CNS tumours, gliomas, meningiomas and acoustic neuromas in current users of HRT were 1.20 (95% CI: 1.05–1.36), 1.09 (95% CI: 0.89–1.32), 1.34 (95% CI: 1.03–1.75) and 1.58 (95% CI: 1.02–2.45), respectively, and there was no significant difference in the relative risks by tumour type (heterogeneity p = 0.2). In past users of HRT the relative risk was 1.07 (95% CI: 0.93–1.24) for all CNS tumours. Among current users of HRT, there was significant heterogeneity by the type of HRT with the users of oestrogen-only HRT at higher risk of all CNS tumours than users of oestrogen–progestagen HRT (RR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.21–1.67 versus RR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.82–1.16) (heterogeneity p < 0.001). Among current users of oestrogen-only and oestrogen–progestagen HRT, there was no significant heterogeneity by duration of use, hormonal constituent or mode of administration of HRT.

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