What evidence is available showing that the female hormone estrogen is a carcinogen?
Steroidal estrogens were recently added to the U.S. list of “known carcinogens” compiled by the U.S. National Toxicology Advisory Panel. [2] Michelle Medinsky, a member of the National Toxicology Program Advisory Committee, said that the committee added estrogen to its list of carcinogens because physicians weren’t warning women of the cancer risks. According to an article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, doctors have been slow to recognize the harmful effects of estrogen. Dr. David Longfellow, head of the Chemical and Physical Carcinogenesis Branch at the National Cancer Institute complained that “Its been an uphill battle to convince the mainstream that estrogen initiates cancer by damaging DNA.” [3] The World Health Organization (WHO) recognizes combined oral contraceptives and combined menopausal therapy as “carcinogenic to humans.” [4,5] The WHO reported that combined oral contraceptives increase the incidence of cancers of the liver, breast and cervix; and combine
