Estrogen exposure has at least a moderate effect on the risk for
ovarian cancer, and
antiestrogen therapy may be helpful in treating the disease. It is known from
breast cancer that previous
hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may influence the molecular profile and prognostic behavior of these
tumors. The aim of this study was therefore to investigate the influence of previous HRT on the prognosis in a cohort of patients with invasive
epithelial ovarian cancer. Among 547 patients who were treated for ovarian
malignancies at a single institution from 1995 to 2008, a total of 244 postmenopausal patients with epithelial
cancer and under the age of 75 were identified for whom information about HRT before the onset of the disease was available. HRT was correlated with
tumor and patient characteristics. Analyses of overall survival and progression-free survival were carried out using Cox proportional hazards models. Age,
tumor stage, and resection status correlated significantly with HRT in the univariate analysis. Patients with previous HRT were more likely to have a lower stage, to be younger, and to have optimal debulking. With regard to survival, HRT had a positive effect on overall survival, specifically in the subgroup of patients with optimal debulking. No correlation was seen in relation to progression-free survival.
Sex hormone exposure through HRT may influence the behavior of
ovarian cancers after the onset of the disease. This study supports the hypothesis that
ovarian cancer is a hormonally influenced
tumor.