Hormone use linked to breast cancer risk
Common Questions and Answers about Hormone use linked to breast cancer risk
hormone
Does anyone know if extended use of oral contraceptives (I'm talkin years of use) is related to breast cancer or is considered a 'risk'? I am curious because when I went to see my GP about the lumps I felt above my breast (lymph nodes/cysts) the first thing she asked me was if I was on birth control.
Early results from this study indicate that Zometa in combination with endocrine therapy (goserelin plus tamoxifen or goserelin plus arimidex) lowers the 5-year risk for breast cancer recurrence by 36% compared to those women who were being given endocrine therapy alone. Zometa apparently not only prevented bone metastases, but metastases to other body parts as well. It also decreased recurrence risk in the unaffected breast.
Along with the increased risk of breast cancer, combined PHT also appears to increase the risk of heart disease, blood clots, and strokes. It does lower the risk of colorectal cancer and osteoporosis, but this must be weighed against possible harm, and it should be noted that there are other effective ways to prevent osteoporosis. Although ERT does not seem to have much effect on breast cancer risk, it does increase the risk of stroke.
Hi,
I am sorry to hear that your sister had to battle breast cancer at the age of 28. Breast cancer in younger women tends to be more agressive than that occuring in the older age group.
The fact that she had bilateral synchronous cancers at a young age is worrying. However, if a full oncologic surgery is complete, along with chemo and now radiation, then I can assume that she is being treated with a curative intent. Also, you mentioned that she will be put on hormones.
The Women's Health Initiative showed that combined HRT as Prempro (conjugated estrogen plus progestin formulation medroxyprogesterone acetate) increased the risk of breast cancer. Estrogen taken without a progestin (Premarin) did not increase risk of breast cancer.
But you are correct that a progestin or progesterone needs to be taken with estrogen to protect the uterine lining from proliferation and risk of hyperplasia or cancer.
Lobular breast cancer accounts for about 10 percent of invasive breast cancer -- the kind that threatens to spread -- according to the American Cancer Society. It can be treated with hormone-based therapies such as tamoxifen, but the tumors are more difficult to detect by mammograms, meaning it is often diagnosed in more advanced stages.
She has had the treatment for the breast cancer, their might also be recommendation for some type of anti-estrogen treatment as well to further decrease her risk of recurrence as well. The use of hormone (anti-estrogen) treatment, and type of hormone treatment will be determined based on risks and benefits, as well as other factors such as her menopausal status and any other health issues.
It is not clear as to why the hysterectomy is being recommended based on the above information.
Studies have looked at whether people who use hair dye products or people who regularly work with them have an increased risk of bladder cancer, leukemia, multiple myeloma, Hodgkin disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lung cancer, breast cancer, oral cancer, and cervical cancer. The evidence from these studies remains quite inconsistent. Most of the available evidence does not support a link to cancer risk.
No other study has linked this particular hormone combination with an increased risk of ovarian cancer. It is also helpful to think about these findings in another way. In women taking placebo, the rate of ovarian cancer would be 27 cancers per 100,000 women per year. In women taking E+P, the rate would be 42 cancers per 100,000 women per year, an increase of 15. Even if this effect of E+P is real and not a chance finding, ovarian cancer remains a rare disease in women taking these hormones.
Im reading a lot of advice against the use of hormone replacement therapy, but the studies I have researched report that its the combination of progesterone and estrogen that is bad for you, and that estrogen alone may actually decrease the risk of breast cancer. My question then is has anybody else read any studies similar?
Have there been studies of women who had estrogen positive breast cancer while on HRT due to hysterectomy and stopped their source of estrogen. The only information that I can find talks the women who had ovaries, and I have not found any information that talks about the women who have had hysterectomies prior to breast cancer.
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