Previous cancers in women diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency: A nationwide population‐based case–control study

Abstract

IntroductionTo investigate the occurrence of previous cancer diagnoses in women suffering from premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and compare it with the general population, shedding light on the association between cancer, cancer treatments, and POI.Material and methodsWe conducted a nationwide case–control study based on registry data from various sources, including the Social Insurance Institution, Finnish Population Information System, and Finnish Cancer Registry spanning from 1953 to 2018. Our subjects comprised all women in Finland who, between 1988 and 2017, received hormone replacement therapy reimbursement for ovarian insufficiency before the age of 40 years (n = 5221). Controls, matched in terms of age and municipality of residence, were selected from the Finnish Population Information System (n = 20 822). Our main exposure variable was a history of cancer diagnosis preceding the diagnosis of POI. We analyzed odds ratios (OR) to compare the prevalence of previous cancers in women with POI with that in controls, stratifying results based on cancer type, age at cancer diagnosis, and the time interval between cancer diagnosis and POI. We also assessed changes in OR for previous cancer diagnoses over the follow‐up period.ResultsOut of the women diagnosed with POI, 21.9% had previously been diagnosed with cancer, resulting in an elevated OR of 36.5 (95% confidence interval [CI] 30.9 to 43.3) compared with 0.8% of the controls. The risk of developing POI was most pronounced during the first 2 years following a cancer diagnosis, with an OR of 103 (95% CI 74.1 to 144). Importantly, this risk remained elevated even when the time interval between cancer and POI exceeded 10 years, with an OR of 5.40 (95% CI 3.54 to 8.23).ConclusionsThis study reveals that 21.9% of women with POI have a history of cancer, making the prevalence of cancer among these women 27.5 times higher than age‐matched controls in the Finnish population. The risk of developing POI is most substantial in the first 2 years following a cancer diagnosis. These findings underscore the role of cancer treatments as an etiological factor for POI and emphasize the importance of recognizing the risk of POI in cancer survivors for early diagnosis and intervention.