Further doubts cast on study linking HRT with breast cancer

Published on Tuesday 17 January 2012 00:00

Further doubt has been cast on a study suggesting that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) increases the risk of breast cancer.

A link between HRT and the disease has proved controversial, with several studies suggesting the findings were blown out of proportion.

However, other research has reinforced the link or shown a drop in breast cancer rates alongside declining HRT use.

Experts writing today in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care said the Million Women Study in the UK – which has reiterated the link several times – does not in fact establish HRT as a cause of breast cancer. However, they did not rule out that HRT may increase risk of the disease.

First published in 2003 and funded by Cancer Research UK, the Million Women Study reported that using combined HRT doubles a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer compared with women not taking HRT.

An update in August last year found similar results after a longer follow-up, including a “rapid fall in risk after HRT is stopped”. But today’s experts insisted: “HRT may or may not increase the risk of breast cancer, but the Million Women Study did not establish that it does.”

The authors highlighted several design flaws that would have skewed the findings. For example, cancers detected within a few months of the study’s start would have already been present when the women were enrolled in the research, but these were not excluded.

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Charles Linskaill

Tuesday, January 17, 2012 at 01:30 AM

All of a Conspiracy on our Women's Damaged Health by our Drug Companies, Finding Easy Prey to Make them Rich, We All Know that feeding our Women Man Made Oestrogen, Does Cause Breast Cancer.

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