This afternoon was very interesting.  First we had the report from the Women's Health Initiative confirming that the women in the study who had been on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) -- both estrogen and a progestin -- and stopped at the end of the study had significantly less breast cancers and that decrease persisted for five years.  Then we heard that women who take HRT get 'good' cancers.  While this might give some women on HRT solace, I certainly do not think that it should encourage women to start.  Women with 'good' cancers still need surgery, radiation, hormones, and may be chemotherapy to be sure.  Encouraging was an analysis of breast density on mammogram as a predictor of the effect of tamoxifen in preventing breast cancer.  It showed that a 10% reduction or more in density predicted tamoxifen's benefit.  My take away from this,  although not yet proven, is that a woman on HRT whose mammogram gets more dense should consider stopping it.



For more information go to www.dslrf.org