August 29, 2019

HRT and breast cancer incidence

Hormone replacement therapy has been a controversial treatment for the last three decades, with different studies claiming complex benefits and risks associated with women taking HRT. Currently, there are about 12 million users of HRT globally, including approximately one million in the UK.

This new analysis, published in The Lancet, brings together and assesses the main epidemiological evidence on the association between different types of HRT and the incidence of breast cancer since 1992. The study also looks at the effects of different types of HRT and the long-term risks after women have stopped using HRT.

Journalists came to the SMC to hear the study authors discuss:

• What are the increased risks of developing breast cancer for women using HRT?
• How do the risks associated with different forms of HRT vary?
• How does the time spent using HRT change the risk of breast cancer incidence?
• How long does the increased risk persist after women have stopped using HRT?

Speakers included:

Prof Valerie Beral, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of Cancer Epidemiology Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford.

Prof Gillian Reeves, Professor of Statistical Epidemiology, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford.

Prof Richard Peto, Professor of Medical Statistics & Epidemiology and Co-Director of the Clinical Trial Service Unit, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford. (TBC)

This Briefing was accompanied by an SMC Round Up.