HRT Continues to Raise Dilemma

In addition to elevating risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may pose another risk for women?breast cancer. A British study conducted by the charity Cancer Research UK has found that HRT can double the normal risk of breast cancer. The results of the study confirm earlier research about the danger of estrogenonly HRT and give new evidence that combined HRT poses a greater risk.

Delyth Morgan, chief executive of the breast cancer charity Breakthrough Breast Cancer, said that the decision regarding whether or not to take HRT must be an individual decision. She stressed that breast cancer risk is not evident until more than a year after taking HRT and recedes quickly when the therapy is stopped.

?This is a very big study and a very important study because the idea of HRT has, in some cases, been cited as a panacea for good health in older women. The sad news is that it is not the case, and there are thousands of women who may have developed breast cancer specifically because of taking HRT,? said Morgan.