Endometriosis and breast cancer: A survey of the epidemiological studies

A Pontikaki, Artemis Pontikaki, S Sifakis, D A Spandidos, Demetrios�� Spandidos
Oncology letters · 2015 · vol. 11(1) , pp. 23–30 · doi:10.3892/ol.2015.3895 · PMID:26870162 · PMC4726942 · W2162589662
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This survey reviewed epidemiological studies, finding conflicting evidence on the association between endometriosis and breast cancer risk, necessitating further research to draw definitive conclusions.

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⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-09 ⓘ

This paper surveyed epidemiological studies published in English up to September 2015 to assess whether women with endometriosis have an association with subsequent breast cancer risk, categorizing findings by the strength and direction of the association after searching PubMed/Medline. Across 4 retrospective cohort studies, 4 case-control studies, and 3 case-cohort studies, many reported a notable increased risk, whereas other studies (including 5 case-control studies plus prospective and cross-sectional designs) found negative associations. The authors conclude that no definite determination of a robust versus weak association can be made because of the limited number of studies and explicit limitations within individual studies. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it focuses on synthesizing epidemiological evidence linking endometriosis to breast cancer risk, which is relevant to endometriosis research.

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Abstract

Endometriosis is a chronic gynecological disease with a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations that affects approximately 10% of women of reproductive age. Recent reviews have demonstrated the connection between endometriosis and breast cancer, which represents the most frequently diagnosed female cancer and the most common cause of cancer-related mortality among women worldwide. The aim of this study was to conduct a survey of available published epidemiological studies indicating the association between endometriosis and breast cancer, and simultaneously to categorize the results based on the strength of the association, with the intention of the critical evaluation of the existing data. We performed a rigorous search of the PubMed/Medline database, using the key words 'endometriosis' and 'breast cancer' for all studies published in the English language until September 2015. We found 4 retrospective cohort studies, 4 case-control studies and 3 case-cohort studies that demonstrated a notable risk for developing breast cancer among women with endometriosis. By contrast, we also found 5 case-control studies, 1 prospective cohort study, 1 case-cohort study and 1 cross-sectional study that demonstrated a negative association between endometriosis and breast cancer. In conclusion, as regards the clarification of a 'robust' or 'weak' association between endometriosis and breast cancer, no definite conclusions could be drawn, due to the limited number of studies and the limitations of each of these studies. New well-designed, prospective cohort or randomized control trials with long-term follow-up are warranted in order to provide evidence-based clinical recommendations for proper counseling, screening and treatment strategies for patients with endometriosis, and hence to improve public health.

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endometriosis

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