Women Taking Estrogen-Only HRT More Likely To Develop Benign Breast Lumps, Study Finds

Main Category: Breast Cancer
Also Included In: Seniors / Aging;  Endocrinology;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 11 Apr 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Women who take estrogen-only hormone replacement therapy are twice as likely as women not taking the treatment to develop noncancerous breast lumps, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports (AP/Houston Chronicle, 4/9).

For the study, Tom Rohan of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and colleagues looked at 10,739 postmenopausal women who participated in the Women's Health Initiative and took Wyeth's estrogen-only HRT Premarin or a placebo and were followed for about seven years. The WHI study found an increased risk of breast cancer among women who took combination HRT but did not find an increase in breast cancer among women who had hysterectomies and took estrogen-only HRT.

The researchers aimed to find whether estrogen-only HRT increased the risk of benign proliferative breast disease. The researchers found that 232 of the women -- 155 of those who took Premarin and 77 of those who took the placebo -- had breast biopsies for lumps that were found to be noncancerous (Steenhuysen, Reuters, 4/8).

According to the AP/Chronicle, the findings raise concerns because benign proliferative breast disease not only leads to extra biopsies but "is suspected of being a first step toward developing cancer 10 years or so later"(AP/Houston Chronicle, 4/9). Rohan noted that it is possible that the women have not been followed long enough for breast cancer to develop and said it was unclear whether the women with noncancerous lumps would develop breast cancer.

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Rohan said he did not believe the findings would change practices because most women are already familiar with the potential risks of HRT. Women considering taking HRT need to "weigh the risks and benefits," Rohan said, adding, "You might say this is one additional risk."

Hugh Taylor of the Yale School of Medicine said the increase in benign proliferative breast disease could reflect breasts' response to estrogen. "It sounds scarier than it is," Taylor said, adding that "normal, healthy" breasts "are supposed to grow in response to estrogen." Wyeth in a statement said that the study looked at a small sample from the WHI study, which did not find an increased risk of breast cancer (Reuters, 4/8).

An abstract of the study is available online.

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