Hormone therapy increases frequency of abnormal mammograms, breast biopsies

February 25, 2008

Combined hormone therapy appears to increase the risk that women will have abnormal mammograms and breast biopsies and may decrease the effectiveness of both methods for detecting breast cancer, according to a report in the February 25 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Hormone therapy use remains common among women beginning menopause, according to background information in the article. “For women with a uterus considering combined estrogen plus progestin use, identified breast cancer issues represent a concern,” the authors write.

Rowan T. Chlebowski, M.D., Ph.D., of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, and colleagues studied 16,608 post-menopausal women who participated in the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) clinical trial, beginning in 1993 through 1998.

A total of 8,506 women were randomly assigned to receive a combination of estrogen (0.625 milligrams of conjugated equine estrogens per day) plus progesterone (2.5 milligrams of medroxyprogesterone acetate per day), while 8,102 took a placebo. Each woman received a mammogram and breast examination yearly, with biopsies performed based on physicians’ clinical judgment.

During the 5.6 years of the study, 199 women in the combined hormone group and 150 women in the placebo group developed breast cancer. Mammograms with abnormal results were more common among women taking hormones than among women taking placebo (35 percent vs. 23 percent); women taking hormones had a 4 percent greater risk of having a mammogram with abnormalities after one year and an 11 percent greater risk after five years.

Breast biopsies also were more common among women taking hormones than among those assigned to placebo (10 percent vs. 6.1 percent). “Although breast cancers were significantly increased and were diagnosed at higher stages in the combined hormone group, biopsies in that group less frequently diagnosed cancer (14.8 percent vs. 19.6 percent),” the authors write.

“After discontinuation of combined hormone therapy, its adverse effect on mammograms modulated but remained significantly different from that of placebo for at least 12 months,” they continue.

Use of combined hormones increases breast density, which increases the risk of breast cancer and may also delay diagnosis, the authors note. However, breast density was not measured in the current study.

Source: JAMA and Archives Journals


Rank not rated yet
Tags

Relevant PhysicsForums posts
  • Is Everyday Technology Killing Us?
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Exercise and weight loss
    createdFeb 08, 2012
  • Why do we have head aches? Our brains can't feel anything.
    createdFeb 07, 2012
  • "The end of diseases" by David Agus, interview from Daily Show with Jon Stewart
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Oncolytic adenovirus
    createdFeb 04, 2012
  • Nutrition label stuffs and diets
    createdFeb 02, 2012
  • More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences

More news stories

Tenofovir, leading HIV medication, linked with risk of kidney damage

(Medical Xpress) -- Tenofovir, one of the most effective and commonly prescribed antiretroviral medications for HIV/AIDS, is associated with a significant risk of kidney damage and chronic kidney disease that increases over ...

Medicine & Health / Medications

created 1 hour ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New tumor suppressor gene identified

A recent study published in Clinical Cancer Research suggests that the protein hVps37A suppresses tumor growth in ovarian cancer. The work, which was funded by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, shows, for th ...

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created 43 minutes ago | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Packard Children's has smallest child yet to get pacemaker

Jaya Maharaj was 15 minutes old when she was sent to surgery at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and given a pacemaker that saved her life. The tiny girl — born nine weeks early, weighing 3.5 pounds, ...

Medicine & Health / Cardiology

created 26 minutes ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Social psychologist: Lust makes you smarter and evidence that seven deadly sins are good for you

(Medical Xpress) -- Good news for lovers on Valentine’s Day - the seven deadly sins, including Lust, are good for you. University of Melbourne social psychologist Dr Simon Laham uses modern research to make a compelling ...

Medicine & Health / Psychology & Psychiatry

created 2 hours ago | popularity 4.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Don't ignore kids' snores

(Medical Xpress) -- Your ears aren’t playing tricks on you – that is the sound of snoring you hear from the bedroom of your preschooler. Snoring is common in children, but in some cases it can be a symptom of a ...

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created 1 hour ago | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0


Transforming galaxies

(PhysOrg.com) -- Many of the Universe's galaxies are like our own, displaying beautiful spiral arms wrapping around a bright nucleus. Examples in this stunning image, taken with the Wide Field Camera 3 on ...

'Smart' microcapsules in a single step

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new, single-step method of fabricating microcapsules, which have potential commercial applications in industries including medicine, agriculture and diagnostics, has been developed by researchers ...

Building a 'blind-friendly' Internet

Rakesh Babu demonstrates how a blind person uses the Internet.

A continent ablaze in auroral and manmade light

The North American continent is literally set ablaze in a confluence of Auroral and Manmade light captured in spectacular new videos snapped by the astronauts serving aboard the International Space Station ...

Ethanol mandate not the best option

Many people are willing to pay a premium for ethanol, but not enough to justify the government mandate for the corn-based fuel, a Michigan State University economist argues.

Nanostructured electrodes for rechargeable sodium-Ion batteries

Highly efficient 3V cathodes for rechargeable sodium-ion batteries have been developed by users from Argonne National Laboratory's Materials Science, Chemical Sciences & Engineering, and X-ray Sciences Divisions, ...