Sex of first child as a prognostic factor in breast cancer

The sex of the first child of patients who underwent mastectomy for potentially curable breast cancer appeared to be a valuable prognostic factor: patients whose first child was a boy had a better outcome than those whose first child was a girl. The difference was statistically significant. This may...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Lancet (British edition) Vol. 1; no. 8061; p. 415
Main Authors Juret, P, Couette, J E, Delozier, T, Leplat, G, Mandard, A M, Vernhes, J C
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 25.02.1978
Subjects
Birth Order
Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis
Female
Follow-Up Studies
France
Humans
Lymphatic Metastasis
Male
Mastectomy
Prognosis
Sex Factors
Sex Ratio
Time Factors
France
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Summary:The sex of the first child of patients who underwent mastectomy for potentially curable breast cancer appeared to be a valuable prognostic factor: patients whose first child was a boy had a better outcome than those whose first child was a girl. The difference was statistically significant. This may have been because the male/female sex ratio among first children was significantly higher in those patients without node involvement than in those with node involvement. But the favourable effect of a male first birth was still seen when only patients with an equal degree of node involvement (greater than or equal to 4 nodes) were studied. The "protection" resulting from a male first-born could be the result of fetal testicular secretions. This protection did not apply to the risk of breast cancer--the male/female sex ratio of first children in our series was 1.08, a figure not statistically different from that of the overall French population (1.05).
ISSN:0140-6736