Migraine history and risk of different molecular subtypes of breast cancer

Abstract

Background: A history of prior migraines has been found to be associated with a reduced risk of breast cancer. However, its relationship with different breast cancer subtypes defined by joint estrogen receptor (ER)/progesterone receptor (PR)/human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2) status are largely unknown. Methods: We conducted a population-based case-case study consisting of 2,346 women aged 20 to 69 years who were first diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2004 and 2015. We estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) by using polytomous logistic regression to assess the relationships between different migraine characteristics and risks of hormone positive (HR+, ER+ and/or PR+), triple negative (TN, ER-/PR-/HER2-), and HER2- overexpressing (H2E, ER-/HER2+) breast cancers. Results: Compared to HR+ cases, history of migraine was not associated with risks of either TN or H2E breast cancers (TN: OR = 0.86, 95%CI: 0.71, 1.04; H2E: OR = 1.05, 95%CI: 0.81, 1.36). Conclusions: No significant associations were observed between migraine history and risk of different molecular breast cancer subtypes. Further studies are needed to replicate our results.