Menopause news

HRT and breast cancer

23 August 2010

A recent report from the California Teachers study has provided more information about the risk of breast cancer associated with different types of HRT.

The California Teachers study is an observational study, following 133,479 current or retired teachers in California, observing in particular, their use of HRT, type of HRT and development of breast cancer. Other risk factors for breast cancer such as family history, BMI, smoking, alcohol intake, age at first pregnancy, number of pregnancies, age of menarche, age of menopause and history of benign breast disease are taken into consideration.

Results from an average of 9.8 years of follow-up have confirmed the association of HRT use and increased risk of breast cancer and have also confirmed that different types of HRT confer different risk, the greatest risk being with long term use of combined HRT (estrogen plus progestogen), with much less risk with the use of estrogen only.

Women and their healthcare professionals must balance risks against benefits when deciding on use of HRT, and must continue to do so at each review.

[Reference]

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