Department of Cancer Epidemiology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA.
Department of Breast Oncology, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute, 12902 Magnolia Drive, Tampa, FL, 33612, USA.
Breast Cancer Res. 2024 Nov 26;26(1):169. doi: 10.1186/s13058-024-01922-6.
Prolactin, a hormone produced by the pituitary gland, regulates breast development and may contribute to breast cancer etiology. However, most epidemiologic studies of prolactin and breast cancer have been restricted to single, often small, study samples with limited exploration of effect modification.
The Biomarkers in Breast Cancer Risk Prediction consortium includes 8,279 postmenopausal women sampled from four prospective cohort studies, of whom 3,441 were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer after enrollment. Prolactin concentrations were measured for all study participants on plasma samples collected when all women were postmenopausal and before any breast cancer diagnosis using ELISA assays. Pooled, unconditional logistic regression models, adjusted for confounders, estimated odd ratios (OR) for associations of prolactin and postmenopausal breast cancer risk overall and stratified by breast cancer risk factors.
Higher plasma prolactin concentrations were positively associated with postmenopausal breast cancer risk (> 13.2 ng/mL vs. < 7.9 ng/mL, OR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.36; P-trend < 0.001). Although associations did not appear to vary by time since blood draw or most breast cancer risk factors, associations were primarily observed in current users of postmenopausal hormones at blood draw (> 13.2 ng/mL vs. < 7.9 ng/mL, current users, OR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.27, 1.96, P-trend < 0.001; non-current users, OR: 1.08, 95% CI: 0.93, 1.27, P-trend = 0.11; P-heterogeneity = 0.06).
Prolactin may be a risk factor for postmenopausal breast cancer, particularly in the context of postmenopausal hormone use. Investigations of prolactin interactions with other hormonal factors may further inform breast cancer etiology.
催乳素是由脑垂体分泌的一种激素，它调节乳房发育，并可能导致乳腺癌的发生。然而，大多数催乳素与乳腺癌的流行病学研究仅限于单个、通常较小的研究样本，对效应修饰的探索有限。
乳腺癌风险预测生物标志物联盟包括 8279 名绝经后妇女，这些妇女来自四项前瞻性队列研究，其中 3441 名妇女在入组后被诊断患有浸润性乳腺癌。所有研究参与者在绝经后和任何乳腺癌诊断之前采集血浆样本时，均采用 ELISA 检测方法测量催乳素浓度。采用条件逻辑回归模型，对混杂因素进行调整，估计催乳素与绝经后乳腺癌总体风险的比值比（OR），并按乳腺癌危险因素进行分层。
较高的血浆催乳素浓度与绝经后乳腺癌风险呈正相关（>13.2ng/mL 比 <7.9ng/mL，OR：1.20，95%CI：1.06，1.36；P 趋势<0.001）。尽管相关性似乎不受采血后时间或大多数乳腺癌危险因素的影响，但在采血时正在使用绝经后激素的女性中，相关性主要存在（>13.2ng/mL 比 <7.9ng/mL，当前使用者，OR：1.58，95%CI：1.27，1.96，P 趋势<0.001；非当前使用者，OR：1.08，95%CI：0.93，1.27，P 趋势=0.11；P 异质性=0.06）。
催乳素可能是绝经后乳腺癌的一个危险因素，特别是在绝经后激素使用的情况下。对催乳素与其他激素因素相互作用的研究可能会进一步阐明乳腺癌的病因。
