By Jimmy Downs

Tuesday April 30, 2013 (foodconsumer.org) -- Estrogen plus progestin based hormone replacement therapy increases the odds of the treated women dying from breast cancer and all causes, according to a new study in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 

Rowan T. Chlebowski, MD, PhD from Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, CA and colleagues conducted the study and found breast cancer incidence during a mean of 11.3 years was 55 percent higher among women who used the hormone therapy, which was based on two hormones, estrogen and progestin, compared with non-users.

The increase in the breast cancer risk was particularly higher among women who used the hormone therapy closer to menopause, compared with those using the treatment farther away from menopause.  

Breast cancer patients who were treated with estrogen plus progestin hormone replacement therapy were found at the same risk of dying from the disease as those who did not use the hormone therapy.

And women who used estrogen plus progestin based hormone therapy were 32 percent more likely to die from breast cancer and 65 percent more likely to die from all causes, compared with those who did not use the hormone therapy, according to the study.

The study was based on data from 41,449 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) who did not have prior hysterectomy and negative mammogram within two years of using hormone therapy. Of the participants, 25,328 used did not use hormone therapy whereas 16,121 did.

Previous analyses based on the data from the same study (WHI) have already revealed that using hormone replacement therapy based on estrogen plus progestin increased the risk of breast cancer and heart disease even years after the treatment.

Some studies suggest that even though the estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy increases the risk of breast cancer, the therapy users are less likely to die from breast cancer.   The current study disproved such a claim by finding that the death rates in the patients who used hormones and patients who did not use  were the same and users did not have any advantage.

The researchers concluded "Consistent with WHI randomized trial findings, estrogen plus progestin use is associated with increased breast cancer incidence. Because prognosis after diagnosis on combined hormone therapy is similar to that of nonusers, increased breast cancer mortality can be expected."

Breast cancer in many cases are  preventable if you know the risk factors and try to avoid them.   An authoritative organization says two major risk factors for breast cancer are hormone replacement therapy and medical radiation which is used in medical diagnostics like mammography screening and medical treatments.

Hormone replacement therapy is in many cases intended to treat women who experience menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, which are inconvenient, but not at all harmful to a woman's health.