Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report Highlights Recently Released Journal Articles

The following highlights recently released journal articles on women's health issues.

Pregnancy & Childbirth
"Cigarette Smoking Affects Uterine Receptiveness," Human Reproduction: Sergio Soares of IVI-Lisboa and colleagues compared in vitro fertilization outcomes of 44 women who smoked more than 10 cigarettes per day with 785 nonsmokers and women who smoked fewer than 10 cigarettes per day. About 34.1% of women who smoked more than 10 cigarettes daily became pregnant through IVF, compared with 52.2% of women who smoked less than 10 cigarettes per day. The study found that 60% of the heavy smokers had multiple births, compared with 31% of the nonheavy smokers. Soares said that more studies are needed to determine if tobacco affects the uterus differently in some women (Reaney, Reuters, 11/8).

Public Health
"Ovarian Cancer in Younger vs Older Women: A Population-Based Analysis," British Journal of Cancer: John Chan of the Stanford University's Division of Gynecologic Oncology and colleagues examined the medical records of 28,165 U.S. women who were diagnosed with ovarian cancer between 1988 and 2001, including 400 under age 30, 11,601 women ages 30 to 60 and 16,164 women older than age 60. The study found that 65.3% of the women under age 30 had stage I-II ovarian cancer, compared with 40.2% of women ages 30 to 60 and 22.5% of women older than age 60. The five-year survival rate for the women under age 30 was 78.8%, compared with 58.8% for the ages 30 to 60 group and 35.2% for the over age 60 groups (Chan et al., British Journal of Cancer, November 2006). Researchers called for further research to be conducted into the biological and molecular differences that could account for the disparities in survival rates among the age groups, Reuters reports (Reuters, 11/7).

"Oral Contraceptive Use as a Risk Factor for Premenopausal Breast Cancer: A Meta-Analysis," Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Chris Kahlenborn of Altoona Hospital and colleagues analyzed data from 34 studies about breast cancer and oral contraceptive use published after 1980 to determine the risk associated with premenopausal breast cancer and oral contraceptive use, Reuters Health reports. Study participants were all ages 50 or younger or premenopausal. The study found that women who used oral contraceptives were 1.19 times more likely to develop breast cancer than women who did not use oral contraceptives. For women who had given birth, oral contraceptive use was associated with a 1.29 times greater likelihood of developing breast cancer, and the risk for women who had never given birth was 1.24 times greater than for women not using oral contraceptives, the study found. The risk of developing breast cancer was 1.15 times greater for women who used oral contraceptives prior to their first full-term pregnancy and 1.52 times greater if oral contraceptives were used four years prior to their first full-term pregnancy. In a related Mayo Clinic Proceedings editorial, James Cerhan of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine writes that the "absolute risk" of developing premenopausal breast cancer after oral contraceptive use "is very small," adding that benefits of oral contraceptive use also should be considered when analyzing the risks (Reuters Health, 11/7).
















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