HRT cancer risk

Women who use hormone replacement therapy long term significantly increase the risk of breast cancer and strokes.

It also leads to a significant reduction in bowel cancer and hip fractures.

But on balance long-term HRT use is more potentially harmful than protective, according to Cancer Research UK scientists writing in the Lancet medical journal.

The team, led by Professor Valerie Beral, examined the incidence of seven major life threatening conditions from four major HRT trials.

The review included information on 20,000 post-menopausal women who had taken HRT for about five years.

It found a significant increase in the risk of breast cancer, strokes and blood clots on the lung linked to HRT.

The researchers estimated that over a five-year period, there would be a total of six extra cases of either breast cancer, stroke or pulmonary embolism (clot on the lung) among every 1,000 healthy women aged 50 to 59 on HRT.

The number doubles to 12 per 1,000 for HRT users aged 60 to 69.

Corresponding reductions in the number of expected cases of bowel cancer or hip fracture were 1.7 and 5.5 per 1,000 HRT user in the two age groups.

The analysis found no significant change in the risks of cancer of the womb lining or heart disease.