HRT (hormone replacement therapy) is a major cause of breast cancer, researchers have established this week – kicking into touch recent efforts by doctors to resurrect the discredited treatment for post-menopausal women.
The number of cases of new breast cancers dropped dramatically in 2002, the year when the first major health alerts about HRT were published. The therapy appears to encourage tumour growth, say researchers from the Breast Cancer Surveillance.
Since the publication of studies into HRT dangers, some doctors have tried to restore the therapy to its former prominence by downplaying the cancer connection. One argument is that former HRT users have had less screening, and so cancers have not been detected.
But, says research team leader Diana Buist, the reverse is true: former HRT users tend to go for more screenings.
(Source: Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 2012; doi: 10.1158/1055-9965).
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