Reproductive hormones, cancers, and conditions in relation to a common genetic variant of luteinizing hormone

A variant of the beta-subunit of luteinizing hormone (v-LH) is more common among populations also at higher risk for breast and ovarian cancer. To exp lore the possible relationship between these cancers and V-LH, we examined its frequency in premenopausal women, including 100 with a family history o f ovarian cancer, 94 with carcinoma-in-situ of the breast, and 153 age and residence-matched controls. Reproductive histories were assessed and v-LH s tatus measured by immunological assays from plasma drawn during the early f ollicular phase of cycles. For the entire study population, 283 (81.5%) wer e wild type; 61 (17.6%) were heterozygous; and three (0.9%) were homozygous for v-LH, Carrier frequency was not elevated among women with a family his tory of ovarian cancer or personal history of carcinoma-in-situ of the brea st compared with controls. Women with the V-LH variant were less likely to report menstrual weight gain or ovarian cysts, more likely to report infert ility, and have higher early follicular phase LH concentrations compared wi th women who were wild type. While there is no evidence from this study tha t v-LH increases risk for ovarian or breast cancer, we conclude that posses sion of v-LH may impact on some aspects of reproductive history and LH conc entrations.