A new study discovered that using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to ease certain symptoms of menopause is associated with an increased risk in developing two of the most aggressive and common types of ovarian cancer.
The meta-analysis, involving 21,000 women, was published in the journal The Lancet. Study author Prof. Sir Richard Peto from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom told Medical News Today, "For women who take HRT for 5 years from around age 50, there will be about one extra ovarian cancer for every 1,000 users and one extra ovarian cancer death for every 1,700 users."
Most women opt to take HRT for managing their menopausal symptoms that usually bring forth many discomforts that may affect their usual daily routines. This therapy entails synthetic estrogen and progestin that can work magic to curb hot flashes. However, years of research has linked HRT with a variety of complications including heart disease, stroke and breast cancer.
The new study which involved around 21,488 women found out that even short-term use of HRT is linked to a higher risk for ovarian cancer as much as 40% higher risk compared to women not using HRT.
Menopause causes the hormones estrogen and progesterone levels to dramatically decrease causing a wide array of discomforts. HRT boosts hormone levels to ease these discomforts. The University of Oxford in the UK researchers had organized the Collaborative Group on Epidemiological Studies of Ovarian Cancer which involved at least 100 researchers all over the world to work together to gather relevant data from past studies and researches.
They reviewed and analyzed 52 epidemiological studies (published or unpublished). They incurred a total of 21,488 women with ovarian cancer. They found out that most of the women with ovarian cancer used HRT in the past. Those who had used HRT within the past five years were at an increased risk in developing ovarian cancer in the next 10 years.
Yet, the risk was only discovered for serous and endometrioid ovarian cancers only.
"The definite risk of ovarian cancer even with less than 5 years of HRT is directly relevant to today's patterns of use - with most women now taking HRT for only a few years - and has implications for current efforts to revise UK and worldwide guidelines," concludes study author Prof. Dame Valerie Beral.