Hormone therapy at menopause may pose breast cancer risk

29. 01. 2011 | ecancer.org


Starting hormone therapy at around the time of menopause is associated with a greater risk of breast cancer compared to starting after a longer gap, according to a study published online Jan. 28 in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute [1].

Hormone therapy at menopause may pose breast cancer risk

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In this large, prospectively followed cohort of women, those who started hormone therapy five years or more after menopause had little or no increased risk, regardless of the type of hormone therapy used, how long they used it, and whether they were overweight or obese.

Many studies have established that breast cancer incidence increases in users of hormonal therapy, in particular among women who use an estrogen-progestin combination as opposed to estrogen-alone. Few studies have looked at the timing of hormone therapy as a risk factor, although two previous studies suggested the interval between menopause and initiating hormone therapy may influence breast cancer risk.

Read the whole article at ecancer.org

Reference

  1. Beral, V., Reeves, G. et al. (2011). Breast cancer risk in relation to the interval between menopause and starting hormone therapy. Journal of the National Cancer Institute DOI: 10.1093/jnci/djq527
  2. Million Women Study. Cancer Epidemiology Unit, University of Oxford.
  3. Women’s Health Initiative. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health.

Keywords: hormone replacement therapy, menopause, breast cancer

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