By Annette Pinder
Researchers know that weight gain and obesity are common complaints of menopausal women which, in turn, raises their risk for breast cancer. What they don’t know yet is what causes obesity to develop during the menopause transition, but researchers from the University at Buffalo and the University of Arizona have teamed up to find out. The project — funded by the National Cancer Institute — is looking at the role follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) plays during menopause in contributing to obesity and breast cancer. It is the largest study of its kind in older women.
“Our hypothesis is that follicle stimulating hormone is driving weight gain, and the weight gain increases the risk of breast cancer,” says Heather Ochs-Balcom, PhD, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental health in UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions and a principal investigator on the study with Jennifer W. Bea, PhD, at the University of Arizona Cancer Center. Jean Wactawski-Wende, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor and dean of UB’s School of Public Health and Health Professions, is a co-investigator.
A hormone released by the pituitary gland, FSH plays an important role in female development and reproduction by stimulating growth of the ovarian follicle before ovulation, Ochs-Balcom explains. “Interestingly, later in life, in the years before menopause and before the drop in estrogen occurs, FSH levels start to rise,” she said. “It is during this time that women notice changes in their body, such as abdominal obesity. Previously, the drop in estrogen has been blamed, but there may be an independent, or separate, role for FSH.”
Ochs-Balcom and Bea became interested in investigating the role of FSH after seeing study results that showed that blocking follicle stimulating hormone can reduce obesity in mice. “We are excited to see how this work translates to humans, and extending it further to include breast cancer since we know that obesity increases postmenopausal breast cancer risk,” said Ochs-Balcom, an expert on genetic and environmental risk factors for cancer.
The study will use extensive data compiled through the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) a long-term national health study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute that provides important contributions to scientists’ understanding of major causes of death, disability and frailty in older women. The researchers will study hormone levels from samples stored in a WHI biobank, and detailed measures of abdominal obesity in the years before breast cancer was diagnosed.
“Our team is thrilled to be able to shed light onto this largely ignored hormone during this critical part of a woman’s life. We hope that our work can help us understand why women develop abdominal obesity and then in the longer term, how to prevent it,” Ochs-Balcom said. “Preventing obesity is the ultimate goal and may in turn prevent cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other obesity-related cancers.”
