Menopausal Hot Flashes Linked to Reduced Breast Cancer Risk

Could hot flashes be a blessing to women? A team of Seattle medical research scientists claims to have documented a connection between severe menopausal symptoms (such as hot flashes) and significantly reduced risk of developing breast cancer.

Researchers at the University of Washington, in association with scientists at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, performed a study, funded by the National Cancer Institute. The group published their findings in "Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention" (CEPB) in January 2011.

"We know that hormones are important to breast cancer risk, and we also know that menopausal symptoms occur primarily because of changes in hormones that women experience as they go through menopause," breast cancer epidemiologist Dr. Christopher I. Li, of the University of Washington School of Public Health, who headed up the project. "If we can confirm this finding, it may be somewhat of a silver lining for women who experience menopausal symptoms, because they can often really reduce a woman's quality of life."

What were the specifics of the menopause/breast cancer study?

The team of scientists performed a case-control study, analyzing the menopausal symptoms of nearly 1,500 postmenopausal women (aged 55 to 74). The group included women with and without breast cancer.

Several menopausal symptoms were examined in the study group, including hot flashes, night sweats, irregular menstrual bleeding, bladder problems, emotional effects and insomnia.

The research revealed that women with the most severe menopausal symptoms statistically had approximately half as many invasive breast cancers (such as invasive ductal carcinoma and invasive lobular carcinoma) than those who had experienced milder menopausal effects or none at all. Hot flashes, in particular, were the highest common denominator among those women who did not develop breast cancer.

"Given the central role of hormones in the etiology of breast cancer," wrote the team of scientists in (CEBP), "a link between menopausal symptoms and breast cancer is plausible. However, no prior studies have evaluated the association between menopausal symptoms and breast cancer risk."

Intriguingly, the menopause/breast cancer link seemed to be unaffected by the existence or timing of hormone replacement therapies in women in the study. Other common risk factors, like obesity and smoking, also had little impact on the research results.

Falling hormonal levels in menopause may be the secret to reduced breast cancer risks.

Menopause brings lower levels of estrogen in women, while higher levels of this female hormone are linked to the development of breast cancer.

Scientists have long recognized delayed menopause (along with early menses) as a contributing factor to an increased risk of breast cancer. This latest study seems to confirm the converse: early and intense menopause may decrease the danger of the dreaded disease.

Of course, medical experts are not clamoring for means of accelerating the onset of menopause in women, as a breast cancer preventative.

However, the statistical data may help medical researchers to pinpoint the causes of breast cancer and to simplify the process of identifying those women who may require additional screening, in the hopes of early diagnosis, if breast cancer arises.

Stefan Gluck, M.D., a breast cancer oncologist with the University of Miami's Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, responded to the recent findings. "We did not have proof that if [women] had less estrogen they have less breast cancer. If you have menopausal symptoms, understand it's a natural process and it might reduce the risk of breast cancer. So, it is something biologically good," Dr. Gluck said.

Whew. Perhaps hot flashes may prove to be a blessing, after all.