OBJECTIVEHypothesis showed that women have higher risks of lung cancer than men when given similar levels of tobacco exposure, implying that sex-related hormones might have a role to play. The study is to identify the influence of female hormones on risk of lung cancer.

METHODSWe evaluated the association between lung cancer risk and menstrual/reproductive factors on a subset of self-responding females in a population based case-control study in Eastern Gansu, 1994 - 1998. The analysis included 109 lung cancer cases and 435 controls selected from the census list and matched to cases on age and prefecture.

RESULTSOdds ratios were lower for later ages at menarche (trend, P = 0.015) and later ages at menopause (trend, P = 0.074).

CONCLUSIONDespite limitations, these findings suggested a possible role related to hormones in the etiology of lung cancer in females.

Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Small Cell ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Case-Control Studies ; China ; epidemiology ; Contraception Behavior ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Logistic Models ; Lung Neoplasms ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Menarche ; Menopause ; Middle Aged ; Odds Ratio ; Parity ; Risk Factors