Plasma prolactin and postmenopausal breast cancer risk: a pooled analysis of four prospective cohort studies.

Background: Prolactin, a hormone produced by the pituitary gland, regulates breast development and may contribute to breast cancer etiology. However, most epidemiologic studies of prolactin and breast cancer have been restricted to single, often small, study samples with limited exploration of effect modification.

Methods: The Biomarkers in Breast Cancer Risk Prediction consortium includes 8,279 postmenopausal women sampled from four prospective cohort studies, of whom 3,441 were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer after enrollment.

Natural menopause timing and menopause symptoms among lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual women in the Nurses' Health Study II.

Objective: This study aimed to examine sexual orientation differences in natural menopause timing and symptoms between lesbian and bisexual women compared with heterosexual women.

Methods: We used longitudinal questionnaire data (1989-2015) from 92,314 women (858 lesbian, 375 bisexual) in the Nurses' Health Study II cohort. Women were 24-44 yr old at baseline and biennially reported their menopause status, including reasons for cessation of menstrual periods.

Plasma C-peptide mammographic features and risk of breast cancer.

Our study in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS) and NHS2, a nested case-control study with 1260 cases and 2221 controls, investigated the association between C-peptide levels, mammographic density (MD) parameters, V (a measure of gray scale variation), and breast cancer (BC) risk. We also examined how C-peptide and BC risk vary across quartiles of mammographic features. Linear and logistic regressions were used to study the associations between C-peptide and MD parameters, and breast cancer.

Circulating Estrogen Metabolites and Risk of Breast Cancer among Postmenopausal Women in the Nurses' Health Study.

Background: Estradiol and estrone are well-established risk factors for postmenopausal breast cancer (BC). Experimental evidence suggests that specific estrogen metabolites, produced via irreversible hydroxylation of estrone and estradiol at the 2- or 16-position may independently influence carcinogenesis.

Methods: We performed a nested case-control study of BC (328 BC cases; 639 controls) among postmenopausal women within the Nurses' Health Study (NHS)to examine the role of estrogens and estrogen metabolites (jointly referred to as EM).

Association of early menarche with breast tumor molecular features and recurrence.

Background: Early menarche is an established risk factor for breast cancer but its molecular contribution to tumor biology and prognosis remains unclear.

Methods: We profiled transcriptome-wide gene expression in breast tumors (N = 846) and tumor-adjacent normal tissues (N = 666) from women in the Nurses' Health Studies (NHS) to investigate whether early menarche (age < 12) is associated with tumor molecular and prognostic features in women with breast cancer. Multivariable linear regression and pathway analyses using competitive gene set enrichment analysis were conducted in both tumor and adjacent-normal tissue and externally validated in TCGA (N = 116).

BMI and breast cancer risk around age at menopause.

Background: A high body mass index (BMI, kg/m) is associated with decreased risk of breast cancer before menopause, but increased risk after menopause. Exactly when this reversal occurs in relation to menopause is unclear. Locating that change point could provide insight into the role of adiposity in breast cancer etiology.

A Plasma Metabolite Score Related to Psychological Distress and Diabetes Risk: A Nested Case-control Study in US Women.

Context: Psychological distress has been linked to diabetes risk. Few population-based, epidemiologic studies have investigated the potential molecular mechanisms (eg, metabolic dysregulation) underlying this association.

Objective: To evaluate the association between a metabolomic signature for psychological distress and diabetes risk.

International Pooled Analysis of Leisure-Time Physical Activity and Premenopausal Breast Cancer in Women From 19 Cohorts.

Purpose: There is strong evidence that leisure-time physical activity is protective against postmenopausal breast cancer risk but the association with premenopausal breast cancer is less clear. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of physical activity with the risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer.

Methods: We pooled individual-level data on self-reported leisure-time physical activity across 19 cohort studies comprising 547,601 premenopausal women, with 10,231 incident cases of breast cancer.

Metabolomic profiles of chronic distress are associated with cardiovascular disease risk and inflammation-related risk factors.

Background: Chronic psychological distress is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and investigators have posited inflammatory factors may be centrally involved in these relationships. However, mechanistic evidence and molecular underpinnings of these processes remain unclear, and data are particularly sparse among women. This study examined if a metabolite profile linked with distress was associated with increased CVD risk and inflammation-related risk factors.

Estimated Ovulatory Years Prior to Menopause and Postmenopausal Endogenous Hormone Levels.

Background: Lifetime ovulatory years (LOY) is estimated by the difference between ages at menopause and menarche subtracting time for events interrupting ovulation. We tested whether LOY influences sex hormone levels in postmenopausal women with at least one intact ovary not using hormones.

Methods: Estradiol, estrone, estrone sulfate, total testosterone, dehydroepiandrostendione sulfate, prolactin, and sex hormone binding globulin were measured in 1,976 postmenopausal women from the Nurses' Health Study.

Association between urinary phthalate biomarker concentrations and adiposity among postmenopausal women.

Background: Obesity is a leading risk factor for chronic diseases, potentially related to excess abdominal adiposity. Phthalates are environmental chemicals that have been suggested to act as obesogens, driving obesity risk. For the associations between phthalates and adiposity, prior studies have focused primarily on body mass index.

Circulating vitamin D and breast cancer risk: an international pooling project of 17 cohorts.

Laboratory and animal research support a protective role for vitamin D in breast carcinogenesis, but epidemiologic studies have been inconclusive. To examine comprehensively the relationship of circulating 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] to subsequent breast cancer incidence, we harmonized and pooled participant-level data from 10 U.S.

Endogenous Steroid Hormone Concentrations and Risk of Endometriosis in Nurses' Health Study II.

Few studies have assessed the association between endogenous steroid hormone levels and a subsequent diagnosis of endometriosis. We prospectively evaluated premenopausal plasma sex hormone levels and the risk of laparoscopically confirmed endometriosis in a nested case-control study within Nurses' Health Study II. Between blood collection (1996-1999) and 2009, we ascertained 446 women with incident endometriosis and matched them to 878 controls through risk-set sampling.

Association of body mass index and inflammatory dietary pattern with breast cancer pathologic and genomic immunophenotype in the nurses' health study.

Background: Breast tumor immune infiltration is clearly associated with improved treatment response and outcomes in breast cancer. However, modifiable patient factors associated with breast cancer immune infiltrates are poorly understood. The Nurses' Health Study (NHS) offers a unique cohort to study immune gene expression in tumor and adjacent normal breast tissue, immune cell-specific immunohistochemistry (IHC), and patient exposures.

Phthalates and bone mineral density: a systematic review.

Background: Exposure to endocrine disruptors, such as phthalates, may impact bone mineral density (BMD) through a variety of mechanisms. Studies of phthalate exposure and BMD in humans are scarce.

Objectives: To synthesize published data on the association between phthalate metabolites and BMD in humans and to provide methodological suggestions for future research.

Psychological distress and metabolomic markers: A systematic review of posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and subclinical distress.

Psychological distress can be conceptualized as an umbrella term encompassing symptoms of depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or stress more generally. A systematic review of metabolomic markers associated with distress has the potential to reveal underlying molecular mechanisms linking distress to adverse health outcomes. The current systematic review extends prior reviews of clinical depressive disorders by synthesizing 39 existing studies that examined metabolomic markers for PTSD, anxiety disorders, and subclinical psychological distress in biological specimens.

Dietary patterns and urinary phthalate exposure among postmenopausal women of the Women's Health Initiative.

Background: Phthalates are endocrine-disrupting chemicals linked to a higher risk of numerous chronic health outcomes. Diet is a primary source of exposure, but prior studies exploring associations between dietary patterns and phthalate exposure are limited.

Objectives: We evaluated the associations between dietary patterns and urinary phthalate biomarkers among a subset of postmenopausal women participating in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI).

Association of adverse pregnancy outcomes and multiple gestation with natural menopause: A population-based cohort study.

Objective: Adverse pregnancy outcomes (APOs) and early menopause are each associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD); whether APOs are associated with age at menopause is unclear. We examined the association of gestational diabetes (GDM), hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP), preterm birth, and multiple gestation with age at natural menopause.

Study Design: Observational, prospective study within the Nurses' Health Study II cohort (1989-2019).

Loss of PTEN Expression, PIK3CA Mutations, and Breast Cancer Survival in the Nurses' Health Studies.

Background: The relationships between PTEN loss and/or PIK3CA mutation and breast cancer prognosis remain controversial. We aim to examine the associations in large epidemiologic cohorts.

Methods: We followed women with invasive breast cancer from the Nurses' Health Studies with available data on tumor PTEN expression (n = 4,111) and PIK3CA mutation (n = 2,930).

The association between anthropometric factors and anti-Müllerian hormone levels in premenopausal women.

Adiposity has been associated with several health conditions as well as timing of menopause. Prior epidemiologic studies on the association of adiposity and anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) have been inconsistent. We evaluated the relations of anthropometric measures with AMH at two time periods in a subset of premenopausal participants in the Nurses' Health Study II.

A Multi-State Survival Model for Time to Breast Cancer Mortality among a Cohort of Initially Disease-Free Women.

Background: Identifying risk factors for aggressive forms of breast cancer is important. Tumor factors (e.g.

Long-Term Survival and Causes of Death After Diagnoses of Common Cancers in 3 Cohorts of US Health Professionals.

Background: Few studies investigated long-term overall survival and causes of death among men and women diagnosed with most commonly occurring cancers.

Methods: We estimated long-term (≥30-year) overall and cause-specific cumulative mortality for men diagnosed with prostate (n = 6873), lung and bronchus (n = 1290), colon and rectum (n = 1418), bladder (n = 1321), and melanoma (n = 2654) cancer in the Health Professionals Follow-up Study between 1986 and 2012 and women with breast (n = 18 280), lung and bronchus (n = 3963), colon and rectum (n = 3461), uterine corpus (n = 1641), and thyroid (n = 1103) cancer in the Nurses' Health Study between 1976 and 2012 and Nurses' Health Study II between 1989 and 2013.

Results: We reported overall and cause-specific cumulative mortality of 30 years among men and 35 years among women.