Breast cancer risk and migraine

For women there may be one good thing about having migraines - a reduced risk of breast cancer.

Both migraine and breast cancer are hormonally mediated diseases, and it is biologically plausible that woman with a history of migraine may have a reduced breast cancer risk. Low oestrogen levels appear to increase the severity and frequency of migraines in women, while increased levels of the hormones are known to boost breast cancer risk.

Previous study, which included around 2,000 women, found a 33% lower breast cancer risk among women with migraines. To confirm the relationship between breast cancer and migraine, researchers studied 4,568 American women with breast cancer (aged between 34 and 64 years) and 4,678 healthy controls. They accounted the effects of migraine triggers such as alcohol, smoking or hormone use.

It was found that those women who had a history of migraines were 26 per cent less likely to develop breast cancer, which did not change with migraine triggers or whether or not a woman was menopausal. Similarly, use of prescription drugs for migraine did not change the risk.

The researchers concluded that a history of migraine may reduce the breast cancer risk, however, further research is required to resolve reasons for this relationship.