Contents
Hormone Therapy Duration: How Long is Too Long?
Published: Jan 01, 2024
When it comes to menopausal hormone therapy, the duration of use can significantly impact breast cancer risk. This article explores how the length of hormone therapy use affects a woman's risk profile.
Short-Term Use: Generally Safe
Good news for women seeking short-term relief from menopause symptoms: using combined estrogen-progestin therapy for less than 4-5 years doesn't significantly increase breast cancer risk. This finding comes from multiple studies, including the Women's Health Initiative (WHI). For estrogen-only therapy, the WHI found no increased risk with an average use of 5.9 years.
Long-Term Use: Increased Risk
The picture changes with longer use. For combined therapy, risk begins to rise after 3-4 years of use. A meta-analysis found that each year of hormone use increases breast cancer risk by about 2.3%. For estrogen-only therapy, significant risk increase was seen only after 15-20 years of use in some studies. This highlights the importance of regularly reassessing the need for continued hormone therapy.
Risk After Stopping
Encouragingly, the increased risk doesn't seem to persist long after stopping hormone therapy. Most studies show that women who stopped therapy more than 5 years ago have a similar risk to those who never used hormones, regardless of how long they used them. However, more research is needed on very long-term past users.
Frequently Asked Questions
Short-term use (<4-5 years) appears to have minimal risk.
Risk increases gradually, not suddenly at a specific time point.
Discuss with your doctor; individual factors affect this decision.
Some studies suggest starting closer to menopause may affect risk.
Combined therapy generally has higher risk than estrogen-only.
The Bottom Line
While short-term hormone therapy use appears safe for most women, longer use requires careful consideration of individual risks and benefits.
References
- Collaborative Group on Hormonal Factors in Breast Cancer. Lancet 1997; 350:1047.
- Chlebowski RT, et al. JAMA 2003; 289:3243.
- Chen WY, et al. Arch Intern Med 2006; 166:1027.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy by one of the licensed medical doctors working for Doctronic. Always discuss health information with your healthcare provider.
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