Reproductive Factors Linked to Risk for Lung Cancer

Reproductive factors, including early menarche, early menopause, and a shortened reproductive life span, are associated with increased risks for incident lung cancer, according to a study presented at the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer 2023 World Conference on Lung Cancer, held from Sept. 9 to 12 in Singapore.

Yan Zhang, M.D., from Xiangya Hospital in Changsha, China, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study involving 273,190 participants from the U.K. Biobank to examine the associations between individual reproductive factors and the risk for developing lung cancer.

The researchers identified 1,182 lung cancer cases in women during a median follow-up period of 12.0 years. Associations with a higher risk for incident lung cancer were seen for early menarche, early menopause, a shorter reproductive span, and early age at first birth in multivariable adjusted models. Substantially stronger associations with elevated lung cancer were seen for several risk factors, especially early menopause and shortened reproductive span, and early age at first birth, particularly with non-small cell lung cancer, in populations with high genetic risk and more detrimental behaviors.