Study Links HRT cancer connection
Seattle – Postmenopausal women who take combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for at least five years doubled their risk of developing breast cancer, according to a study published Wednesday.
One year after the end of this treatment, the risk of developing breast cancer falls by 28%, according to the study from Stanford University.
The study used data from the 2002 Women’s Health Initiative report which consisted of 15,000 women. The study established links between breast cancer, blood clots and strokes andcombinationHRT.
“This is very strong evidence that estrogen plus progestin causes breast cancer,” said Marcia Stefanick, co-author of the study that appears in the February 5 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
“You start women on hormones and within five years, their risk for breast cancer is clearly elevated. You stop the hormones and within one year, their risk is essentially back to normal. It’s reasonably convincing cause-and-effect data.”
The study is published in the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.