Does HRT cause breast cancer?

This question has been posted in these health communities: Menopause

Q: Does HRT cause breast cancer?

Most of the women I play bridge with who have taken HRT have developed breast cancer- I have heard there is a link, is this true?

Jean Hailes for Women's Health
Health Consumer Organisation

Founded in 1992, Jean Hailes for Women's Health reflects the enduring legacy that Dr Jean Hailes made to women’s health. Jean had a far-sighted vision ... View profile
For otherwise healthy women, taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for two to five years to relieve menopausal symptoms causes little if any increase in breast cancer risk.If you're not taking HRT during menopause, you have a 3 in 1000 chance of developing breast cancer in a given year. If you take HRT for five years, that chance goes up slightly to just under 4 in 1000. Weigh this small risk against the benefits of HRT: It can significantly improve women's quality of life and reduce risks of osteoporosis, diabetes and colon cancer.

If you want to take HRT, experts suggest taking the lowest effective dose of HRT, for only as long as required by your symptoms, and regularly review your reasons to continue (or not) with your health practitioner. HRT can be stopped at any time, after which any increase in breast cancer risk lessens over time and is lost within five years. Reply to this post | Report
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Dr Margaret Smith (Gynaecologist)
Health Professional

Margaret Smith is a semi-retired Gynaecologist who still consults privately on women's hormone problems. She has lived and worked in Perth for 30 years, for ... View profile
Oestrogens do not cause breast cancer but will certainly make it grow
Women on HRT must have regular mammograms and report any undue soreness or lumps in the breast
The original American and British studies drew wrong conclusions and frightenend women unnecessarily (aided by alarmist newspaper reports)
Women on oerstrogens only (without progestagens) Do not have any increase in breast cancer over 10 years or more od use. Reply to this post | Report
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