Trial Information

Study of Maternal and Umbilical Cord Hormone Concentrations in Monochorionic and Dichorionic Pregnancies

Epidemiologic data are few but suggest that effects during the prenatal and early life
periods may be important in influencing risk of breast, prostate and testicular cancers
later in life. In particular, evidence is accumulating for associations with several
maternal, perinatal and pregnancy characteristics, including twining. The effect of these
factors may be mediated through alterations in hormone levels such as the estrogens and
other steroid hormones, to which the embryo and fetus are exposed during pregnancy.
Differences in maternal hormone concentrations by maternal and perinatal factors have been
noted, though data for most factors are sparse. Furthermore, less is known about the
relationships of pregnancy factors to hormones in cord blood, the proximal exposure to the
fetus, since most work thus far has been based on hormones in the maternal circulation. In
collaboration with investigators at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, we are collecting
maternal and cord blood samples from monochorionic twin, dichorionic twin and singleton
pregnancies of similar gestational age to quantify differences in concentrations of several
hormones and other pregnancy products. The purpose of the study is to assess the
consistency of these data with hypotheses regarding the altered cancer risk daughters of
twin pregnancies experience. All data collection is completed. We are currently analyzing
the data for development of manuscripts to be submitted for publication.