Hormone therapy around menopause is linked to breast cancer risk, revealed by researchers in a study published in The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
In this large, prospectively followed cohort of women, those who started hormone therapy five years or more after menopause had little or no increased risk, regardless of the type of hormone therapy used, how long they used it, and whether they were overweight or obese.
Many studies have established that breast cancer incidence increases in users of hormonal therapy, in particular among women who use an estrogen-progestin combination as opposed to estrogen-alone. Few studies have looked at the timing of hormone therapy as a risk factor, although two previous studies suggested the interval between menopause and initiating hormone therapy may influence breast cancer risk.
To investigate this question, Valerie Beral, FRS, of Oxford University and colleagues, used data from the Million Women Study (MWS) in the UK. The researchers estimated the adjusted relative risks of breast cancer in ho…
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