- CHICAGO (Reuters) - The suspected breast cancer risk associated with
post-menopausal hormone replacement therapy may involve a type of tumor
that can be hard to detect, researchers reported on Tuesday.
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- The report from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer
Research Center, Group Health Cooperative and the University of Washington,
Seattle, looked at 705 women between the ages of 50 and 74.
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- It found the incidence of all types of
breast cancer in the group was increased by 60 to 85 percent by replacement
therapy and that long-term users had a higher risk for lobular breast cancer.
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- "We found an elevated risk of invasive
breast cancer among post-menopausal women who were long-term, recent users
of oral estrogen, either alone or in combination with progestin,"
said the study published in this week's Journal of the American Medical
Association.
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- "These results are generally consistent
with the results from other case-control and cohort studies and (a) recent
collaborative analysis," it added.
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- "Two prior studies have observed
a two to three-fold increase risk of lobular breast cancer associated with
current combination therapy, and we found similarly large risks of lobular
cancer associated with current combination therapy and longer duration
of all formulations of hormone replacement therapy," it said.
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- If there really is an increased risk
for lobular breast cancer, it added, that "could have implications
for screening, because lobular carcinomas are relatively more difficult
to palpate (feel) and more difficult to diagnose by mammography. However,
until more is known about the costs and benefits of different screening
modalities for women using hormone replacement therapy, it would be premature
to use our results as a basis for modifying early detection activity in
them."
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- About 38 percent of U.S. women between
the ages of 50 and 74 are on hormone replacement therapy, according to
medical literature. The therapy replaces estrogen which the ovaries cease
to produce at menopause -- a change that can cause mood swings, vaginal
dryness, lowered libido, hot flashes and insomnia.
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- The replacement therapy also is believed
to have the potential to prevent heart disease and ward off osteoporosis.
Risks associated with the treatment include breast cancer and blood clots.
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