Do Testosterone Levels Influence Risk of Uterine Fibroids?

Women with high testosterone levels are more likely to report uterine fibroids, according to a new study.

Researchers explored how the presence of testosterone and estrogen in middle-aged women relates to the occurrence of fibroids over a long period of time.

As part of the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, researchers collected data from 3240 women ages 45 to 52 between 1997 and 2013. Each year, the women had their blood tested for levels of bioavailable testosterone and estrogen.

Nearly 44% of the women completed the study. Of the 3240, 512 developed incident fibroids and 478 developed recurrent fibroids.

Results showed that women with high levels of testosterone had a high risk of developing incident fibroids. Those with high levels of both testosterone and estrogen had an even higher risk of developing incident fibroids but a lower risk of recurrent fibroids.

“Our findings are particularly interesting because testosterone was previously unrecognized as a factor in the development of uterine fibroids,” researchers concluded. “The research opens up new lines of inquiry regarding how fibroids develop and how they are treated.”

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Wong JYY, Gold EB, Johnson WO, and Lee JS. Circulating sex hormones and risk of uterine fibroids: study of women's health across the nation (SWAN). J Clin Endocrinol Metabol. Published online December 15, 2015. http://press.endocrine.org/doi/10.1210/jc.2015-2935.