More bad news for the 3 million women taking the popular hormone-replacement therapy Prempro, a new analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative found that estrogen-progestin pills stimulate the growth of breast cancer and make it harder to find tumors. The findings were published in the Journal of American Medical Association.
“Hopefully, it will convince women to reconsider,” said Dr. Susan Hendrix of Wayne State University in Detroit, a co-author of the new analysis. “We’ve got to find a better way to help women with their menopausal symptoms.”
The Associated Press reported that Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, maker of the Prempro pills used in the study, said “hormones remain an appropriate therapy when used at the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible time.
The latest analysis is by far the most conclusive, said Dr. Peter Gann, an associate professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University who was not involved in the study.
It “further worsens the news for long-term hormone replacement therapy. It suggests the excess breast cancer risk is not trivial,” said Gann.
(via The Associated Press)
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