Incidence of breast cancer falls with less HRT use, Canadian study confirms

The incidence of breast cancer in postmenopausal women in Canada has fallen as their use of combined hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has decreased, shows a study published on 23 September.

The publication in 2002 of results from the Women’s Health Initiative—showing that long term use of combined HRT was associated with a higher risk of breast cancer—led to major reductions in its use, followed by a decrease in the incidence of breast cancer in several countries (BMJ 2009;338:b2116, doi:10.1136/bmj.b2116).

The new study analysed data from several Canadian registries and a national health survey of women aged 50-69 years to see …