With Hormone Therapy, Tender Breasts May Signal Cancer Risk
MONDAY, Oct. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Breast tenderness in women taking estrogen/progestin hormone replacement therapy could signal increased chances of developing breast cancer, a new study says.
Women taking estrogen plus progestin who reported developing breast tenderness after starting the hormone therapy were 48 percent more likely to develop invasive breast cancer than women on hormone therapy who did not experience breast tenderness.
Researchers said more study is needed before they would recommend that women who experience this symptom discontinue taking the hormones. But women who develop breast tenderness might want to reassess if the hormones are really necessary to control their menopausal symptoms.
"It's too soon to tell women to quit their hormone therapy, but it is something for women to think about in balancing the risks versus the benefits," said the study's lead author, Dr. Carolyn J. Crandall, a clinical professor of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
"Breast tenderness is a symptom that may be a risk marker for breast cancer," she said.
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