Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25505231›Full record

SynthesisJournal of the National Cancer Institute2015

Migraine and breast cancer risk: a prospective cohort study and meta-analysis.

Anke C Winter, Megan S Rice, Renée T Fortner, A Heather Eliassen, Tobias Kurth, Rulla M Tamimi

Open access · bronzeAbstract readMeta-Analysis
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
1.0field-weighted citation impact, top 24% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. A pilot analysis of headache disorders in breast cancer patients.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022
    Article
  9. Cancer Progress and Priorities: Breast Cancer.Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology · 2021
    Review
  10. Article
  11. Migraine, headache, and mortality in women: a cohort study.The journal of headache and pain · 2020
    Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.

Anke C WinterDivision of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (ACW); Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (TK); Team Neuroepidemiology, INSERM ​Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (U897), Bordeaux, France (TK); University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (TK).
Megan S RiceDivision of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (ACW); Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (TK); Team Neuroepidemiology, INSERM ​Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (U897), Bordeaux, France (TK); University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (TK).
Renée T FortnerDivision of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (ACW); Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (TK); Team Neuroepidemiology, INSERM ​Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (U897), Bordeaux, France (TK); University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (TK).
A Heather EliassenDivision of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (ACW); Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (TK); Team Neuroepidemiology, INSERM ​Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (U897), Bordeaux, France (TK); University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (TK).
Tobias KurthDivision of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (ACW); Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (TK); Team Neuroepidemiology, INSERM ​Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (U897), Bordeaux, France (TK); University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (TK).
Rulla M TamimiDivision of Public Health Sciences, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO (ACW); Channing Division of Network Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA (MSR, RTF, AHE, RMT); Division of Preventive Medicine, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA (TK); Team Neuroepidemiology, INSERM ​Research Center for Epidemiology and Biostatistics (U897), Bordeaux, France (TK); University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France (TK).
Brigham and Women's Hospital · USInserm · FRHarvard University · USWashington University in St. Louis · US

Funding

Training Program in Cancer EpidemiologyT32CA009001 · NCI · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI A. Heather Eliassen, Meir Stampfer · 1985 to 2026
$17.3M
Life Course Cancer Epidemiology Cohort in WomenUM1CA176726 · NCI · HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH · PI WILLETT, WALTER C. · 2013 to 2017
$15.7M
Premonopausal Hormone Levels and Risk of Breast CancerR01CA067262 · NCI · HARVARD UNIVERSITY (SCH OF PUBLIC HLTH) · PI HANKINSON, SUSAN E · 2002 to 2011
$11.9M
NCI NIH HHS R01 CA67262NCI NIH HHS T32 CA009001NCI NIH HHS T32 CA09001NCI NIH HHS UM1 CA176726
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe evidence for an association between migraine and breast cancer risk is inconclusive. While female sex hormones have been proposed as one underlying mechanism, data on sex hormone levels in migraineurs are sparse.

methodsWe prospectively evaluated the association between migraine and breast cancer risk among 115378 Nurses' Health Study II participants using Cox proportional hazards models. Differences in endogenous sex hormone levels according to migraine status were assessed among 2034 premenopausal women using linear regression. We performed a meta-analysis of studies investigating the association between migraine and invasive breast cancer risk published through October 2013. All statistical tests were two-sided.

resultsSeventeen thousand six hundred ninety-six women (15.3%) reported a physician's diagnosis of migraine at baseline. Over 20 years of follow-up, 833 in situ and 3091 invasive breast malignancies occurred. Migraine was not associated with total (hazard ratio [HR] = 0.96, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.88 to 1.04), in situ (HR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.82 to 1.15), or invasive breast cancer risk (HR = 0.95, 95% CI = 0.87 to 1.04). Endogenous sex hormone levels did not differ according to migraine status. In the meta-analysis, migraine was associated with a lower risk of breast cancer overall (pooled risk ratio [RR] = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.73 to 0.98). However, this inverse association was apparent only among case-control studies (pooled RR = 0.72, 95% CI = 0.66 to 0.79), and not among cohort studies (pooled RR = 0.98, 95% CI = 0.87 to 1.10).

conclusionIn this large cohort study, migraine was not associated with breast cancer risk or differences in endogenous sex hormone levels. While case-control studies suggest an inverse association between migraine and breast cancer risk, prospective cohort studies do not support an association in pooled analyses.

Indexed as

AdultAgedBreast NeoplasmsCase-Control StudiesCohort StudiesFemaleFollow-Up StudiesGonadal Steroid HormonesHumansMiddle AgedMigraine DisordersNursesOdds RatioPremenopauseProportional Hazards ModelsProspective StudiesGonadal Steroid Hormones

Identifiers

PMID25505231
PMCPMC4296198
OpenAlexW2121323990

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.