Can Breast Cancer Survivors Take Hormones?
April 5, 2005 — New research suggests that some forms of menopausal hormone therapy may be safe for use by breast cancer survivors, but experts say too many safety questions remain to recommend that these women take hormones to relieve menopausal symptoms. The Scandinavian study found no association between the use of menopausal hormone therapy and breast cancer recurrence in early-stage breast cancer survivors who took hormones for an average of four years. The findings stand in sharp contrast to those of another major Swedish study on hormone therapy in breast cancer survivors published in December 2003. Researchers reported a threefold increase in cancer recurrences among survivors treated with hormones compared with survivors who did not take hormone therapy. The seemingly contradictory results mean that it is still too soon to recommend hormone therapy for women with a history of breast cancer, an author of the newest research tells WebMD. “Breast cancer survivors should not take
