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A Look At The Dangers Of HRT

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Jul 22, 2009 4:52 pm US/Eastern

A Look At The Dangers Of HRT

Reporting
Dr. Maria Simbra
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) ― Hormone replacement therapy, or HRT, can help a woman with the bothersome hot flashes of menopause, the phase of life marking the end of her reproductive years.

With HRT, there is a small, but increased risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, and breast and ovarian cancers. A new study is reinforcing that list in particular, the risk for one of these deadly diseases.

"Unless they had a diagnosis of breast cancer, or I guess now ovarian cancer, they should go on short term estrogen replacement," says Dr. Bob Edwards, a gynecologic oncologist at Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

In the "Journal of the American Medical Association," a Danish study looked at the health registry information of 900,000 women over ten years. It found HRT, which contains the hormone estrogen, linked to an increased risk for ovarian cancer.

"The Danish registry captured all the information ongoing as these individuals were prescribed estrogen or not prescribed estrogen, and they have a very good registry looking at who actually gets ovarian cancer," says Dr. Edwards. "What it doesn't represent though, is showing cause."

So no one knows why there's the association and the increased risk is small, just one more case compared to non-users for every 8,000 women.

"This is a very strong study, large number of subjects, but additional studies are clearly needed," Dr. Edwards cautions.

While the small risk doesn't seem like a big deal, ovarian cancer remains a highly fatal disease.

"Everyone is calling about this paper. They ask me, should I remain on the estrogen, should I be screened because I was on the estrogen, is there a good screening test for ovarian, which by the way, there is not," says Dr. Edwards. "If you're on estrogen, it's worth having a discussion with your physician at your next visit. I wouldn't panic. The risk is extremely low."

Ovarian cancer is hard to detect before it spreads. About 18 out of every 100,000 woman are diagnosed each year, and in about 15,000 it is fatal.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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