A new study released in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows women taking postmenopausal hormone therapy have a higher risk of developing ovarian cancer.
The research, conducted by a team led by Lina Steinrud Mørch, M.Sc., of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University, Denmark, also shows that the risk remains higher up to two years after these women stop hormone therapy.
The study looked at over 900,000 Danish women who were 50 or older in 1995: the women not using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were followed for 10 years and compared to the women who had various types of HRT.
Hormone therapy accounted for five percent of ovarian cancer cases among the women studied. Overall, current HRT users were 38 percent more likely to develop ovarian cancer than the women who had never used HRT. Even women who had stopped taking hormones in the previous two years were at a 22 percent higher risk of developing ovarian cancer. These findings suggest that the length of time of the therapy, the kinds and combination of hormones and the form of delivery did not correlate in any particular way to risk percentage.
The percentages may seem low, as the study measures risk levels and likelihood of developing ovarian cancer as a result of HRT, but the results are worth considering. Ovarian cancer is a fatal cancer and is usually only detected after the cancer has spread through the ovaries; the percentage of risk linking HRT to the disease makes the use of hormone therapy questionable.
Still, CNN reports that when asked about whether or not the study will change women's interest or doctor's recommendations of HRT, Debbie Saslow, Ph.D., the director of breast and gynecologic cancer at the American Cancer Society noted,"The bottom line is, we're already telling women, 'Don't use it.' If you need to use it, use it for the lowest dose and the shortest amount of time, but try not to use it."
The studies are important and findings must be circulated in order for women to get a better perspective on the risks and possible outcomes of hormone replacement therapy. It's easy to think about HRT in the framework often displayed in magazines and television shows. Oprah recently devoted a show to discussing HRT, interviewing Robin McGraw, whose experience with HRT did not focus on research but rather seemed to be a miracle cure for feeling tired and lifeless.
Oprah went on to interview Dr. Christiane Northrup, who encouraged women to figure out what works best for one's own body and that it's important to speak with your doctor. Still, the show did not specifically address the statistics linking cancer and heart attacks to HRT. Indeed, it's important for women to do the research and speak to medical professionals about the realities of taking on HRT.