Objective: Breast feeding is associated with reduced estrogen, a profile th
at should be associated with decreased endometrial cancer incidence. We ana
lyzed data from a population-based case-control study of Wisconsin women to
evaluate the relation between lactation and endometrial cancer risk.
Methods: Cases (n = 586) were identified from a statewide tumor registry; c
ontrols (n = 1653) were selected randomly from driver's license lists and M
edicare beneficiary files. Breast feeding practices and other factors were
ascertained by telephone interview.
Results: Compared with parous women who did not breast feed, the multivaria
te relative risk for women who breast fed for at least 2 weeks was 0.90 [95
% confidence interval (CI) 0.72-1.13]; increasing duration was not strongly
associated with risk of disease (p for trend 0.4). More recent breast feed
ing was associated with significantly reduced risks. The relative risk for
lactation within the recent three decades was 0.58 (95% CI 0.36-0.96) and f
or first breast feeding at age 30 or greater was 0.50 (95% CI 0.28-0.90). T
here was a suggestion that risk was increased in women who used lactation s
uppressant hormones - usually estrogens - more recently (p = 0.1) or at a l
ater age (p = 0.1).
Conclusions: This study suggests that, like breast cancer, endometrial canc
er is modestly inversely associated with lactation.