The role of hormones in breast carcinogenesis: Issues of relevance to female childhood cancer survivors*

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in Western industrialized countries, and is an important potential second cancer to consider in young women who are survivors of childhood or adolescent cancers. This paper reviews the relationship between hormones and breast biology, cancer treatment factors that may increase or reduce the risk of breast cancer in female survivors of childhood cancer, the treatment of ovarian failure in these survivors, and the potential for preventive strategies in this population. The expanding numbers of female childhood cancer survivors increase the need for health care providers to understand the late health effects of treatments on reproductive health and breast cancer risk.