Sexual and Gender Minority Health

Approximately 75-95% of transgender individuals will use hormones. The effects of hormone use on breast cancer risk in cisgender women have been widely studied; the effects on transgender populations have not been studied at all. Nevertheless, current guidelines recommend that transgender individuals follow cisgender guidelines for breast cancer screening.

Transgender populations deserve to know what hormone use means in terms of their cancer risk and balance this information with their gender-affirming needs. Our lab aims to address this gap in the literature by examining how hormone use is reflected in hormonal biomarkers of cancer risk. We recruit individuals across the spectrum of gender identities with varying hormone use through the PRIDE study, one of the largest nationwide cohorts of sexual and/or gender minority people. We also work with a panel of guideline experts and community members to incorporate hormonal evidence into screening guidelines, which currently extrapolate from cisgender guidelines.

Featured Publications:

Michelle Lui, Walter Bockting, Kenrick Cato & Lauren C. Houghton (2024) Prevalence and predictors of cancer screening in transgender and gender nonbinary individuals, International Journal of Transgender Health, DOI: 10.1080/26895269.2023.2294493

Kosher RBD, Houghton LC, Winkler IT. MANstruation: A cyberethnography of linguistic strategies of trans and nonbinary menstruators. Soc Sci Med. 2023 Jul;328:115974. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115974. Epub 2023 May 19. PMID: 37269746.