Age at Menarche and Risk of Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-Analysis

Abstract

BackgroundVarious observational studies have focused on the relationship between menarcheal age and the risk of colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the association is still controversial because of inconsistent results. Therefore, we performed a meta-analysis to assess this issue from epidemiological studies.MethodsAfter a literature search in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science for studies of menarcheal age and CRC risk published through the end of January 2013, we pooled the relative risks (RRs) from included studies using a fixed- or random-effects model and performed heterogeneity and publication bias analyses. All statistical tests were two-sided.ResultsEleven case-control and 11 cohort studies were eligible for inclusion in our analysis. The random-effects pooled RR for oldest versus youngest menarcheal age was 0.95 [95% confidence intervals (CIs) = 0.85–1.06], with significant heterogeneity (Q = 61.03, P<0.001, I 2 = 65.6%). When separately analyzed, case-control (RR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.75–1.21) and cohort studies (RR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.90–1.04) yielded similar results. Moreover, similar results were also observed among the subgroup analyses by study quality, population, exposure assessment, anatomic cancer site, subsite of colon cancer, and several potential important confounders and risk factors. There was no evidence of publication bias and significant heterogeneity between subgroups detected by meta-regression analyses.ConclusionsFindings from this meta-analysis demonstrated that menarcheal age was not associated with the risk of CRC in humans. Further studies are warranted to stratify results by the subsite of colon cancer and menopause status in the future.

Colorectal Cancer Risk Associated with Reproductive Factors among Turkish Women

“…We did not find statistically significant associations between parity and the risk of CRC, but it was determined in our study that CRC risk decreased in women who had menarche at a later age (p>0.05). A similar decreasing trend was observed in previous studies [5,7,10,19].…”

“…Estrogen production before puberty could increase CRC cell numbers and cause DNA mutation therefore it is considered to be a risk factor for CRC [7,10]. We did not find statistically significant associations between parity and the risk of CRC, but it was determined in our study that CRC risk decreased in women who had menarche at a later age (p>0.05).…”

“…Women were informed about the study by the researchers prior to study and the ones who agreed to participate were enrolled in the study. The data were collected by face-to-face interviews by using the data collection form that was prepared by the researchers by scanning the literature [2,[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Participants were asked whether they had ever used OCC (no, yes) and the total number of years of use (categorized as months). We defined parity as the total number of pregnancies lasting 6 months or longer.…”

“…Besides, reproductive and hormonal factors, such as parity, age at birth of first child, age at menarche, and age at menopause, use of hormone therapy or oral contraceptive could be effective as well for lifetime exposure to endogenous estrogens [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. CRC is one of the most treatable types of cancer when colorectal cancer is found at an early stage before it has spread.…”

Importância do viés de memória na obtenção da idade da menarca pelo método recordatório em adolescentes brasileiras

“…Por servir como marco do desenvolvimento maturacional, a idade em que ela ocorre tem sido utilizada como variável em inúmeras pesquisas, entre as quais as que investigam o crescimento (1), a composição corporal (2), as que a utilizam para verificar o risco de determinadas doenças, tais como câncer (3,4), osteoporose (5), doenças cardiovasculares e diabetes (6).…”