BACKGROUND: Previous studies on association of exogenous female sex hormones and 
risk for meningioma have yielded conflicting results. The aim of this study was 
to evaluate the potential relation between prior use of menopausal hormone 
therapy or oral contraception and risk of meningioma.
METHODS: This population-based case-control study was conducted during years 
2000-2002 in Finland. All women aged 20-69 years with meningioma diagnosis were 
identified from five university hospitals, and frequency-matched controls were 
randomly chosen from population register. A total of 264 cases and 505 controls 
were interviewed on their use of menopausal hormone therapy, oral and other 
contraception, fertility treatment, treatment for gynecological problems, age at 
menarche, and number of children. We also analyzed separately tumors expressing 
progesterone or estrogen receptors. Of the successfully stained tumor specimens, 
86.3% were positive for progesterone receptor and 50% for estrogen receptor.
RESULTS: Postmenopausal hormonal treatment, use of contraceptives, or fertility 
treatment did not influence the risk of meningioma. In further analysis by 
hormone receptor status, there was some indication for an increased risk of 
progesterone receptor-positive meningiomas associated with oral contraceptive 
use (OR 1.39, 95% confidence interval 0.92-2.10) and other hormonal 
contraception (OR 1.50, 95% CI 0.95-2.36).
CONCLUSIONS: Overall, we found little indication that reproductive factors or 
use of exogenous sex hormones affect meningioma risk.