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Plasma prolactin and its relationship to risk factors in human breast cancer
Author(s) -
Kwa H. G.,
Cleton F.,
De JongBakker M.,
Bulbrook R. D.,
Wang D. Y.,
Hayward J. L.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910170405
Subject(s) - prolactin , breast cancer , menarche , medicine , cancer , luteal phase , endocrinology , family history , risk factors for breast cancer , physiology , gynecology , obstetrics , hormone
The prolactin concentration has been determined in plasma from ostensibly healthy women living on the Island of Guernsey. There were 102, 42 and 41 women who had a mother, sister or maternal aunt, respectively, with breast cancer. The remaining 184 women in this study claimed to have no known family history of breast cancer and were used as a control group. The increased risk of breast cancer due to familial history was not associated with a raised mean prolactin level compared to the control group. However, in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, daughters of breast cancer patients had significantly raised levels of prolactin at 19.00 h. There were no abnormalities in the mean plasma prolactin levels for the above groups associated with differences in age at first child, age at menarche, interval between age at menarche and first child, and body weight of post‐menopausal women. (All these factors have been reported to influence breast cancer risk). It is concluded that prolactin has no obvious function in the aetiology of breast cancer. If it is involved, the mechanism by which it acts must be subtle and concerned with the homeostatic control governing nycthemeral prolactin rhythms.