A new study suggests that the early use of HRT increases the risk of breast cancer.
January 29, 2011- Women who begin hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in the first stages of menopause have an increased risk of getting breast cancer than other women who begin using the drugs later in the menopause cycle, a study stated yesterday.
The researchers’ study,which was printed in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, helps to answer persisting doubts about which women are more prone to experience side effects from hormone replacement therapy.
The study consisted of slightly more than 1 million U.K. women and the results indicated that the women who held back on taking HRT for five years and up had very small or no raised risk of developing breast cancer. The women who began HRT on the onset of menopause increased their risk by 43 percent.
“In this large study, we found greater risks of breast cancer if hormonal therapy use began either before or soon after menopause than after a longer gap,” the study said.
“And this pattern of risk was seen across different types of hormonal therapy, among women who used hormonal therapy for either short of long durations, and also in lean and in overweight and obese women.”
