Early Menopause, Other Reproductive Factors Associated With Lung Cancer

A prospective study conducted by researchers from Xiangya Hospital in Changsha, Hunan, China, examined if individual reproductive factors among women were associated with the development of lung cancer.

Their full analysis also considered the impact of risk factors on lung cancer subgroups, including age, smoking status, body mass index, genetic risk, and histological subtypes. The results were presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer.

Based on their analysis, researchers found several risk factors that were significantly associated with a higher risk of lung cancer development in women, including early menarche (age ≤11 years), early menopause (age ≤46 or 47-49 years), a shorter reproductive span (age ≤32 or 33-35 years), and early age at first birth (age ≤20 or 21-25 years).

Reproductive Factors Shown to Increase Lung Cancer Risk

In the IASLC press release, the study’s lead author, Dr. Yi Zhang, suggested “this pioneering research emphasizes the importance of screening multiple reproductive factors in identifying potential lung cancer risk among female populations.”

The cohort enrolled 273,190 patients from the UK Biobank. Over a median follow-up of 12 years, researchers identified 1182 instances of women with lung cancer. Dr. Zhang and colleagues noted early menopause, shortened reproductive span, and early age at first birth had the strongest associations with increased risk of lung cancer in patients with high genetic susceptibility and detrimental behaviors, especially non-small cell lung cancer.

“By understanding these associations, health care professionals can develop targeted preventive strategies and interventions to combat lung cancer effectively,” Dr. Zhang stated.

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