Migraines linked to 'reduced breast cancer risk'

(www.migraine.org.uk/)

Female migraine sufferers are at a significantly lower risk of breast cancer, a study published today has suggested.

Research has shown that women with a history of the severe, recurrent headaches have a 30 per cent lower risk of breast cancer compared to women who do not suffer such attacks.

The study, conducted by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Centre, in Seattle, US, looked at the histories of more than 3,000 women from the region, nearly 2,000 of whom had a history of breast cancer.

The results are published in this month's issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.

Dr Christopher Li said the researchers suspected the association between breast cancer and migraines was linked to fluctuations in levels of circulating hormones.

Oestrogen is known to stimulate hormonally sensitive breast cancer.

He said in late pregnancy, where oestrogen levels are high, 80 per cent of migraine sufferers do not have the headaches.

"Migraines seem to have a hormonal component in that they occur more frequently in women than in men, and some of their known triggers are associated with hormones," he said.

He added: "While these results need to be interpreted with caution, they point to a possible new factor that may be related to breast-cancer risk.

"This gives us a new avenue to explore the biology behind risk reduction. Hopefully this could help stimulate other ideas and extend what we know about the biology of the disease."

Researchers combined data from two studies of 3,412 Seattle-area postmenopausal women, 1,938 of whom had been diagnosed with breast cancer and 1,474 of whom had no history of breast cancer.

The study comes after research published earlier this year showed migraines may increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes in women.

Separate research has also suggested migraine sufferers could be more likely to be struck by blood clots in their veins.