Data on cancer risk from hormone therapy reassuring, menopause experts say
A new scientific paper and other recent evidence offer important reassurances about the risk of breast cancer from hormone therapy to treat menopause symptoms, two University of Virginia School of Medicine menopause experts say.
Hormone therapy can help relieve menopause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, sleep disturbances, vaginal issues, sexual problems and loss of bone density. But information has been conflicting on whether or how much this treatment increases recipients’ risk of breast cancer.
The new review in the scientific journal Menopause, combined with other recent findings, provides much-needed clarity, according to UVA Health’s JoAnn V. Pinkerton, MD, and Carolyn S. Wilson, MD. Pinkerton and Wilson have outlined their thoughts on the review in an accompanying editorial co-written with Andrew M. Kaunitz, MD, of the University of Florida College of Medicine — Jacksonville.
“When prescribed to women after hysterectomy, estrogen therapy used alone at menopause did not increase the risk of invasive breast cancer. Longer durations of estrogen therapy use may increase risk. For women with an intact uterus who need combined estrogen and progestogen, the risk of breast cancer increased slightly and persisted after discontinuation,” said Pinkerton, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, director of midlife health at UVA Health and executive director emeritus of the North American Menopause Society. “Women and their healthcare providers should feel reassured about the safety of hormone therapy when used at menopause.”
Hormone Therapy and Breast Cancer Risk
There have been longstanding questions about whether hormone therapy — including progestogens and estrogen together or estrogen alone — puts women at increased risk of breast cancer. The waters have been muddied by sometimes conflicting results from large observational studies and two large randomized Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trials.
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