Hormone replacement therapy quadruples risk of breast cancers

doi:10.1136/bmj.39461.443877.4E

BMJ 2008;336:116 (19 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.39461.443877.4E

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Hormone replacement therapy quadruples risk of breast cancers

Susan Mayor

¹ London

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Postmenopausal women taking combined oestrogen and progestinhormone replacement therapy for three years or longer run fourtimes the risk of developing lobular breast cancer, finds USresearch. This is shorter than the time associated with an increasedrisk of other types of breast cancer (Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers& Prevention 2008;17:43-50).

The study included 1044 women between the ages of 55 and 74who had been diagnosed as having invasive breast cancer between2000 and 2004 and entered into the cancer surveillance systemin Washington state. They were compared with 469 age matchedcontrols without cancer.

A third of the women with breast cancer had lobular cancers,which occur in the chambers of the breast that contain milkproducing glands and account for about 15% of all invasive breastcancers.

Lobular cancers are hormonally sensitive, so are more treatablethan the more common ductal cancers, but they are more . . . [Full text of this article]

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Absolute risk please, please: Anthony N Glaser
bmj.com, 19 Jan 2008 [Full text]
Neuromuscular syndrome; an adverse effect of hormone replacement to remember: Elias Ragi
bmj.com, 21 Jan 2008 [Full text]
Its an eye opener: M.A.M Hussain Shakir
bmj.com, 18 Feb 2008 [Full text]