New study backs up HRT-breast cancer link (original) (raw)

Sunday 1 June 2008Sun 1 Jun 2008 at 3:00am

Australian researchers say new findings showing a significant drop in breast cancer are a reminder that women should think seriously before using hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

The study has found a fall in the incidence of breast cancer among women aged over 50 of about 7 per cent, or 600 cases between 2001 and 2003.

There was a 40 per cent drop in the number of women using HRT after a study in 2002 warned of a link between the treatment and the risk of breast cancer.

Associate Professor Emily Banks from the Australian National University (ANU) says there are still many women who may need to review their use of HRT.

"It's probably a good reminder and it's timely for them to really look at whether they need to be using HRT, whether their menopausal symptoms are severe and whether they actually weighed up the risks and benefits," she said.

"So basically what it says is it's a great achievement, we've reduced breast cancer by quite a lot but there's still more that can be done."

Associate Professor Banks says the drop cannot be explained by other factors.

"That really large drop in HRT use from 2001 to 2003 really seems to be the only big risk factor that we can see that changed dramatically at that time," she said.

"We can be excited and we can be surprised at the size of this achievement, really what this means is that women and their doctors have had a very positive impact on breast cancer in Australia and it really shows that by incorporating solid evidence about HRT into clinical practise, we can have an impact on breast cancer."