Postmenopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer

Although the current discussion on the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for the prevention of heart disease and osteoporosis is important for decisions on treatment, there are at present no generally accepted recommendations. The WHI study was stopped prematurely because the level of tolerated risk for the development of breast cancer was exceeded A new meta-analysis showed an increase in the risk of breast cancer with the duration of HRT. The combined estrogen/gestagen therapy appears to involve a higher risk than the use of estrogen alone. However, a common finding in many studies is that breast cancer in women on HRT therapy shows better prognostic criteria. One meta-analysis, which included 11 predominantly observational studies found that there was no higher risk of relapse caused by HRT after breast cancer. In order to assist medical practitioners, the German Society for Gynaecology and Obstetrics will publish a consensus recommendation on hormone treatment for menopausal and postmenopausal women at the beginning of 2003.