Washington: Women who start hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as they begin to go through menopause have a higher risk of breast cancer than women who start taking the drugs later, researchers reported on Friday.
The findings, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, help answer lingering questions about just who is and who is not at greater risk of side-effects from taking HRT.
The study of more than 1 million British women showed that those who waited five years or more to take HRT had little or no increased risk of breast cancer. But those who started it as they entered menopause had a 43 percent higher risk.
"In this large study, we found greater risks of breast cancer if hormonal therapy use began either before or soon after menopause than after a longer gap," Dr Valerie Beral of Britain's Oxford University and colleagues wrote....
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02:38 PM, Jan 29, 2011
