Oct 15, 2019

Study on Breast Cancer Risk of Menopausal HT Requires Further Research

Scientist holding petri dish

Headshot of Dr. Wendy WolfmanA new study by the Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer has found that there is a potential link between breast cancer and menopausal hormone therapy for particular women. The study found that "for women of average weight in developed countries, five years of MHT [menopausal hormone therapy], starting at age 50 years, would increase breast cancer incidence at ages 50–69 years by about one in every 50 users of oestrogen plus daily progestagen preparations".

Dr. Wendy Wolfman, Professor with the University of Toronto's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, is a specialist in menopause. Dr. Wolfman says that the use of menopausal hormone therapy must be based on each woman's particular health. "Women may have disabling symptoms around menopause and hormone therapy remains the most effective treatment for symptomatic women. The use of hormone therapy is a risk-benefit analysis decision individualized for each woman and should be re-evaluated yearly."

Dr. Wolfman goes on to say that there needs to be more studies performed looking at current dosages and types of hormones prescribed.

"This study suggests a higher risk than shown previously for breast cancer. Meta/analysis to calculate risks have unique problems based on overweighting and choice of study inclusion. Techniques to decrease the proportion of breast risk in the decision equation to take HT such as possibly reducing doses, innovative progesterone schedules or choices, adding intermittent aromatase inhibitors, current TSEC options, etc need more studies."

The International Menopause Society released a statement about this study, making clear that more research is required on this topic. "It is extremely important to note that this paper does not inform us of the impact of current recommended MHT prescribing practices on breast cancer risk," stated the Society. The Society instead believes that the take-home message of the paper should be that obesity is an important risk factor for breast cancer, and that "if obesity was a drug, we would be recommending people did not use it".

You can read more about this study on the Lancet website.

You can also read the full statement from The International Menopause Society here.

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