Breast Cancer

Benefits

Risks & contraindications

Evidence quality

Highlighted claims

• Estrogen-only therapy reduced the risk of developing breast cancer by 23% over 20 years, even when used for only a short period. — Menopause Hormone Therapy: Updated Evidence, Risk Reassessment, and Clinical Guidance
• Women on estrogen who developed breast cancer had a 44% decreased risk of dying from it, a level of protection unmatched by any other known therapy. — Menopause Hormone Therapy: Updated Evidence, Risk Reassessment, and Clinical Guidance
• BRCA1 positivity and family history of breast cancer are not contraindications to hormone therapy. — Menopause Hormone Therapy: Updated Evidence, Risk Reassessment, and Clinical Guidance
• The conventional view that estrogen causes breast cancer is being fundamentally revised. — Menopause Hormone Therapy: Updated Evidence, Risk Reassessment, and Clinical Guidance
• A Finnish nationwide study of over 489,000 women found breast cancer mortality was reduced in all hormone users compared to non-users. — Menopause Hormone Therapy: Updated Evidence, Risk Reassessment, and Clinical Guidance
• BRCA1 carriers receiving estrogen for an average of four years had a 50% lower breast cancer risk compared to non-users. — Menopause Hormone Therapy: Updated Evidence, Risk Reassessment, and Clinical Guidance
• The HABITS trial, the primary source of contraindication in breast cancer survivors, had severe methodological problems including crossover between treatment and control arms and lack of pre-study mammograms. — Menopause Hormone Therapy: Updated Evidence, Risk Reassessment, and Clinical Guidance
• Vaginal estrogen is associated with 20% fewer cases of breast cancer recurrence compared to no hormones, and lower recurrence than oral estrogen. — Menopause Hormone Therapy: Updated Evidence, Risk Reassessment, and Clinical Guidance