Smoking can Lessen Endometrial Cancer Risk
Chinese researchers found that cigarette smoking appears to be associated with a decreased risk of cancer of the endometrium, the inner membrane of the mammalian uterus.
However, in spite of the span that cigarette smoking could dramatically increase the incidence of many other chronic diseases, researchers found the benefit of smoking, almost in postmenopausal women and not in premenopausal women.
Endometrial cancer refers to several types of malignancy which arise from the endometrium, or lining of the uterus. Endometrial cancers are the most common gynecologic cancers in the United States, with over 35,000 women diagnosed each year in the U.S.
Dr. Bin Wang of Nanajing Medical University suggested that cigarette smoking can influence the anti-estrogen effect. But previous studies have provided inconsistent findings regarding the link between cigarette smoking and endometrial cancer risk.
Dr. Bin Wang found that cigarette smoking can decrease the risk of endometrial cancer by 18 to 29 percent. This association was significant for both current and former smokers.
The researchers found also a relationship between smoking and a decreased endometrial cancer risk among postmenopausal women but not premenopausal women. The risk of endometrial cancer among postmenopausal women who smoked was reduced by 29 percent.
Moreover, among women taking hormone replacement therapy, cigarette smoking was associated with about a 50 percent decreased risk of endometrial cancer. But the decreased risk was only significant among postmenopausal women.
Wang and his colleagues noted that there are multiple biological mechanisms associated with the link between reduced risks of endometrial cancer among cigarette smokers.
