Menopause before the age of 40 is rare, but cancer risks may rise when it does happen The excess risk extended even to the relatives of women affected by very early menopause Women who experience very early menopause may need more cancer screening, researchers said TUESDAY, June 4, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Menopause before the age of 40 could raise a woman's long-term risk for breast or ovarian cancers, new research suggests. Besides that, "there is also higher risk of breast, prostate and colon cancer in relatives of these women" noted study author Dr. Corrine Welt .
She's chief of endocrinology, metabolism and diabetes at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City. Menopause before the age of 40 is rare, and is sometimes clinically known as "primary ovarian insufficiency" -- a shutdown of normal ovarian function prior to a woman's 40s. In the new study, Welt's team tracked the health histories of 613 Utah women with primary ovarian insufficiency and 165 women who experienced early menopause.
The researchers looked at the women's medical histories between 1995 and 2021. Women who underwent early menopause experienced double the odds for a breast cancer versus women who went through menopause at a more typical time, the research showed. The risk for ovarian cancer nearly quadrupled in the early menopause group, Welt's group added.
They also looked at genealogy information from the Utah Population Database to find the relatives of each of the women, and their medical hist.
