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Hormones and Breast Cancer Incidence
Breast cancer rate drops as women give up hormone replacement therapy
April 2007
Scientists at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report a 6.7% drop in breast cancer cases in 2003
and attribute it to millions of women abandoning hormone replacement therapy the year before.
This decline was not a one-time aberration, as it held steady into 2004.
Until 2002, women were urged to take hormones even if they didn't need them to alleviate
menopause symptoms. The prevailing notion was that hormones would protect women from
heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease -- and wrinkles. Doctors knew hormone replacement
therapy caused a slight increase in breast cancer risk, but that was believed to be a small price
to pay for protection from these more common and more threatening diseases.
When the Women's Health Initiative released a study demonstrating that hormones actually
increased the risk of heart disease and stroke and did nothing to prevent Alzheimer's disease,
many women stopped taking them.
Some saved themselves from getting breast cancer.
The 6.7% reduction in incidence translates to as many as 14,000 cases of breast cancer per year
that may have been prevented by women giving up hormone replacement therapy. For any
individual who stopped taking hormones, the reduction in risk was small -- one in sixty, or 1.7%.
But that still adds up to a lot of women who were spared a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Other factors may have contributed to the decline in breast cancer, but the most significant drop
was seen in the type of tumors that would have been fueled by estrogen in hormone pills --
those with estrogen receptors on their cell surface. And, too, the reduction occurred primarily in
women over 50 years of age, the group that would have been taking hormones.
Women who need relief from severe menopausal symptoms are now advised to take the lowest
dose of hormones for the shortest time possible.
The Decrease in Breast-Cancer Incidence in 2003 in the United States
PM Ravdin, KA Cronin, N Howlader, CD Berg, RT Chlebowski, EJ Feuer, BK Edwards, DA Berry
The New England Journal of Medicine; April 19, 2007
April 2007
Scientists at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center report a 6.7% drop in breast cancer cases in 2003
and attribute it to millions of women abandoning hormone replacement therapy the year before.
This decline was not a one-time aberration, as it held steady into 2004.
Until 2002, women were urged to take hormones even if they didn't need them to alleviate
menopause symptoms. The prevailing notion was that hormones would protect women from
heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer's disease -- and wrinkles. Doctors knew hormone replacement
therapy caused a slight increase in breast cancer risk, but that was believed to be a small price
to pay for protection from these more common and more threatening diseases.
When the Women's Health Initiative released a study demonstrating that hormones actually
increased the risk of heart disease and stroke and did nothing to prevent Alzheimer's disease,
many women stopped taking them.
Some saved themselves from getting breast cancer.
The 6.7% reduction in incidence translates to as many as 14,000 cases of breast cancer per year
that may have been prevented by women giving up hormone replacement therapy. For any
individual who stopped taking hormones, the reduction in risk was small -- one in sixty, or 1.7%.
But that still adds up to a lot of women who were spared a diagnosis of breast cancer.
Other factors may have contributed to the decline in breast cancer, but the most significant drop
was seen in the type of tumors that would have been fueled by estrogen in hormone pills --
those with estrogen receptors on their cell surface. And, too, the reduction occurred primarily in
women over 50 years of age, the group that would have been taking hormones.
Women who need relief from severe menopausal symptoms are now advised to take the lowest
dose of hormones for the shortest time possible.
The Decrease in Breast-Cancer Incidence in 2003 in the United States
PM Ravdin, KA Cronin, N Howlader, CD Berg, RT Chlebowski, EJ Feuer, BK Edwards, DA Berry
The New England Journal of Medicine; April 19, 2007
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