Rationale: Early natural menopause (early-M; <45 years of age) increases the risk of lung morbidities and mortalities in smokers. However, it is largely unknown whether early menopause due to surgery demonstrates similar effects and whether menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) is protective against lung diseases.
Objectives: To assess the associations of early menopause and menopausal hormone therapy with lung morbidities and mortalities using the prospective Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian (PLCO) trial.
Methods: We estimated the risk among 69,706 postmenopausal women in the PLCO trial, stratified by menopausal types and smoking status.
Results: Early menopause was associated with an increased risk of most lung disease and mortality outcomes in ever smokers with the highest risk seen for respiratory mortality (HR 1.98, 95% CI 1.34 to 2.92) in those with bilateral oophorectomy (BO). Early menopause was positively associated with chronic bronchitis, and all-cause, non-cancer and respiratory mortality in never smokers with natural menopause or BO, with the highest risk seen for BO— respiratory mortality (HR 1.91, 95% CI 1.16 to 3.12).
Ever menopausal hormone therapy was associated with reduced all-cause, non-cancer and cardiovascular mortality across menopause types regardless of smoking status and was additionally associated with reduced risk of non-ovarian cancer, lung cancer (LC) and respiratory mortality in ever smokers.
Among smokers, ever menopausal hormone therapy use was associated with a reduction in HR for all-cause, non-cancer and cardiovascular mortality in a duration-dependent manner.
Conclusions: Smokers with early menopause should be targeted for smoking cessation and Lung cancer screening regardless of menopause types. menopausal hormone therapy users had a lower likelihood of dying from Lung cancer and respiratory diseases in ever smokers.
Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Access to the PLCO datasets requires submitting a data-only project using the National Cancer Institute Cancer Data Access system. Data will be delivered once the project is approved and data transfer agreements are completed.
(Newswise/PBVSVP)