Climacteric symptoms and estrogen replacement therapy in women with endometrial carcinoma

A case-control study was undertaken to investigate the influence of exogenous estrogens and climacteric symptoms on the risk of developing endometrial carcinoma. The study comprised 254 women with newly diagnosed endometrial carcinoma, resident in a defined geographical area, and 254 age-matched population controls. Treatment with estrogens for 4 years or longer was significantly more common among patients than among controls (odds ratio = 4.5; 95% confidence limit (CL) = 1.2-17.3). A history of climacteric symptoms was reported by significantly fewer patients than controls (odds ratio = 0.5; 95% CL = 0.3-0.7) and this difference was shown to be independent of weight. The decrease in risk associated with climacteric symptoms was limited to women younger than 70 years.