More good news was recently revealed in the debate about hormone replacement therapy--or HRT--and breast cancer.  Research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute [5/16/01] showed that in women previously diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, taking HRT DID NOT increase their subsequent risk of either breast cancer recurrence or early death.  In fact, this study showed that taking HRT may actually have a protective effect against breast cancer recurrence AND premature death.

Investigators at the University of Washington in Seattle found that the rate of cancer recurrence in women who used HRT after having been diagnosed with invasive breast cancer was approximately HALF of what it was in nonusers.

When they evaluated causes of death in these women, the researchers found that the risk of death from breast cancer was three times greater in the women who did NOT use HRT than in the women who did.  When death from ALL causes was evaluated, the women who did NOT take HRT had TWICE the risk of death compared to the women who took HRT.

For more information on HRT, click here.
For more information on breast cancer, click here.

Created: 7/10/2001  -  Donnica Moore, M.D.