foodconsumer.org: Hormone therapy raises ovarian cancer risk Hormone therapy raises ovarian cancer risk ================================================================================ admin on 07/15/2009 16:56:00 By David Liu Therapies based on synthetic estrogen or otherwise can drastically increase the risk of ovarian cancer, according to a study in the July 15, 2009 issue of the Journal of American Medical Association. For the study, Lina Steinrud Mørch, M.Sc., of Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University, Denmark, and colleagues examined the association between use of hormone therapy and incidence of ovarian cancer among all Danish women aged 50 to 79 from 1995 through 2005. Data on prescription drugs were obtained from the National Register of Medicinal Product Statistics and data on ovarian cancer came from the National cancer Register and Pathology Register. In the study, 63 percent of the women had not been taking hormone therapy and 22 percent used hormones prior to the follow-up. During the 8-year follow-up, 9 percent were using hormones. Of them, 46 percent had used hormones for more than 7 years. During the follow-up, 3,068 ovarian cancers were detected. The researchers found current users of hormone therapy were 38 percent more likely to acquire ovarian cancer than those who never used hormones. Current users were also 44 percent more likely to have epithelial ovarian cancer and previous hormone therapy users were 15 percent more likely to be diagnosed with the cancer. The risk of ovarian cancer did not significantly vary with formulation, regimen, type of progestin or route of administration, the researchers found. Most scientists may agree that the risk results from estrogen, synthetic or naturally occurring, which is known to promote the growth of female reproductive cancers including ovarian cancer. Early studies have shown that anti-estrogen hormone therapy can give women with ovarian cancer a few more years to live because such a treatment blocks estrogen receptors, reducing the impact of the female hormone. Ovarian cancer strikes an estimated 21,550 women in the United States in 2009 and the disease and the disease-related complications will kill 14,600 patients, according to the National Cancer Institute. The current study indicates that the risk induced by estrogen-based hormone therapy is far much greater than early thought. The NCI states on its website “Some studies have suggested that women who take estrogen by itself (estrogen without progesterone) for 10 or more years may have an increased risk of ovarian cancer.” Hormone therapy is often indicated to ease postmenopausal symptoms some women experience. Ads by drug companies, hospitals, and pharmacies often use the term "biologically identical" that may potentially mislead audience to believe hormone therapy of this type is natural and safe. But natural or not, hormones are dangerous as the current study suggests. The researchers of the study found hormone therapy increases ovarian cancer risk regardless of the duration of use, the formulation, estrogen dose, regimen or route of administration. As a matter of fact, even endogenous estrogen plays an important role in the risk of ovarian cancer and other female reproductive cancers, according to some previous studies.