Date Published:
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
A new study has found that normal weight women on hormone
replacement therapy (HRT) and those who take combination
estrogen/progestin therapy (EPT) over a longer time may face a
higher risk of breast cancer, according to a report posted on
WebMD. EPT drugs include Prempro and Premphase. According to the
journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, the study
results-" HRT and Breast Cancer Risk: Study
Details"-indicated that while it is widely known that EPT
does increase breast cancer risks, what remains unknown are the
response of different combinations, which women are high risk, and
if risk changes based on tumor sub-type. The team looked at HRT and
breast cancer risks using the California Teachers Study cohort,
said Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention and, after a
9.8-year mean follow-up, "2,857 invasive breast cancers were
diagnosed."
The group compared women who never took HRT to women who said
they were on estrogen therapy (ET) for no less than 15 years and
found that those women on long-term ET experienced a 19-percent
increased risk of breast cancer, said Cancer Epidemiology,
Biomarkers & Prevention. When the timing increased (15 years or
more), the risk increased (83 percent), with the greatest risk seen
in women using continuous combined EPT therapies. The team
concluded that the findings call for more "personalized
risk-benefit discussions with women contemplating HT (hormone
therapy) use."
In addition to considering HRT by type-estrogen alone or an
estrogen/progestin combination-and length of regimen, the team
looked at the women's body mass index, or BMI, said WebMD.
Progestin is key because it tells breast tissue to split, which can
increase cancer risks, noted WebMD.
While women with a high BMI-30 or higher, considered obese-did
not experience an increased breast cancer risk, women with BMIs of
29.9 or lower did, despite that obesity on its own is a breast
cancer risk, wrote WebMD. Increased risks for breast cancer with
HRT was linked to tumors positive for estrogen and progesterone and
HER2-positive, explained WebMD.
The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said
that women should take the smallest dose of HRT for the shortest
time frame, WebMD noted.
The report also noted that one study co-author-Christina A.
Clarke-served as an expert plaintiff witness in a lawsuit over
Prempro hormone therapy.
NewsInferno.com disclaimer: This article was posted on
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010 at 6:11 am at NewsInferno.com and is filed
under Pharmaceuticals