Sourced: Cancer Council
Women who stopped taking combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) experience a rapid decline in the risk of breast cancer, according to new results from the Women's Health Initiative study in the US.
The study investigators excluded breast cancer screening as an explanation for the decline in breast cancer risk in the study in women who stopped using HRT. The results are published today in The New England Journal of Medicine.
These findings are in line with a decline in rates of breast cancer in women over 50 years of age in Australia. Rates of HRT use dropped dramatically after the initial results of the Women’s Health Initiative trial were published in 2002, which showed the adverse health effects associated with the use of HRT.
At the same time as HRT use dropped, rates of breast cancer in Australia decreased by 7 percent in 2003 compared to 2001.
Dr. Karen Canfell of Cancer Council NSW said: "We know from many studies over the last decade that taking HRT increases the risk of breast cancer.”
“The good news is that this new study published today adds to the large body of evidence that when women stop taking HRT their risk of breast cancer quickly goes back to normal.”
Associate Professor Emily Banks of the Australian National University, agreed, saying: “There has been a rapid fall in HRT in Australia since 2002. Because of this about 600 fewer Australian women are developing breast cancer every year.”
Dr. Andrew Penman, CEO of the Cancer Council NSW, said that Cancer Council NSW’s advice is the same as the Australian Drug Evaluation Committee; that women should only take HRT for moderate to severe menopausal symptoms and for as short a time as possible.
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