Preoperative serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and prognosis in invasive breast cancer

Aims. We investigated the association between preoperative serum levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and the prognosis in women with invasive breast cancer. Methods. Serum levels of FSH were measured in 182 premenopausal and 581 peri- or postmenopausal women with invasive breast cancer. They were followed for a mean time of 84 months. The study endpoint was death from breast cancer (182 events). Analyses were stratified on menopausal status. Results. None of the stimates showed a statistically significant result. In both pre- and postmenopausal women there was a nominally higher probability of survival with a higher FSH level. Point estimates in multivariate analysis incorporating age, tumour diameter, axillary lymph status, estrogen and progesteron receptor content and year of treatment indicated a stronger association with FSH levels in premenopausal than postmenopausal women (relative hazard 0.63 or 0.85, respectively in the highest compared with the lowest quartile). Conclusion. We did not find any statistically significant association between preoperative serum level of FSH and prognosis. Today, FSH is not a clinical target for intervention or a clinically useful prognostic factor and the results of clinical studies up to date can only be used for motivation of further experimental laboratory research.