The polycystic ovary syndrome and gynecological cancer risk

Abstract

This review updates the knowledge regarding the association between the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and the risk of gynecological cancer. We performed a literature review of clinical and epidemiological studies concerning PCOS and the risk of breast, endometrial and ovarian cancer after selecting information by quality of scientific methodology. It was found that evidence does not support a link between PCOS and breast cancer risk. There is an increased risk of endometrial cancer, while data concerning ovarian cancer are contradictory. Regarding PCOS and its association to cervical, fallopian tube, and vulvar cancer, the quality of evidence is heterogeneous. In conclusion, women with PCOS should be screened for endometrial cancer and more research is warranted to determine in this population the true risk of developing other gynecological cancers such as breast and ovarian.

摘要

这篇综述对多囊卵巢综合征（PCOS）与妇科肿瘤风险间的关系做了更新。我们通过科学的方法对文献信息进行高质量的选择, 对PCOS与乳腺癌、子宫内膜癌和卵巢癌的临床和流行病学研究进行了文献回顾。研究发现, 证据并不支持PCOS与乳腺癌风险之间的联系。PCOS患者子宫内膜癌的风险增加, 而PCOS患者罹患卵巢癌的风险目前仍存在争议。关于PCOS与宫颈癌、输卵管癌和外阴癌的关系, 证据质量存在很大的异质性。总之, PCOS的患者妇女应进行子宫内膜癌筛查, 对于PCOS患者罹患其他妇科肿瘤（比如：乳腺癌和卵巢癌）的真正风险仍有待于更多的研究来证实。

The Chinese abstracts are translated by Prof. Dr. Xiangyan Ruan and her team: Beijing Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100026, China.

Keywords:

• Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
• gynecological cancer
• breast cancer
• endometrial cancer
• ovarian cancer

Author contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception, design, and material preparation. The first draft of the manuscript was written by BM and FRPL, and all authors contributed to the final editing of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This review was partially supported by the Sistema de Investigación y Desarrollo and the Vice-Rectorado de Investigación, and Postgrado of the Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador, through grant No. SIU-318–853-2014 (The Omega II, Women’s Health Project 2014) provided to Peter Chedraui.