> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Hormone Replacement Therapy, Trans Fat, Dietary Cholesterol Linked to Ovarian Cancer Risk - URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/hormone_replacement_therapy_trans_fat_dietary_cholesterol_122511/ - Published: 2011-12-25T22:48:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-22T16:08:44.000Z - Description: Following 126,920 post-menopausal women for nine years, a Cancer Causes Control study tied current hormone therapy use to 29 percent higher ovarian cancer risk. Estrogen-only users were at 63 percent; the 20 percent rise for estrogen plus progestin was not statistically significant. - Author: Food Consumer - Tags: Cancer, Avoiding Illness, Trans Fat, Cholesterol, Ovarian Cancer, Hormone Replacement Therapy, #vivvo-import By David Liu PHD **Summary: Hormone replacement therapy, dietary cholesterol and trans fatty acids may boost risk of ovarian cancer, which kills about 15,000 women in the United States each year.** Sunday Dec 25, 2011 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study published online June 3, 2011 in Cancer Causes Control suggests that using **menopausal hormone therapy** may boost risk of ovarian cancer. Ovarian cancer forms in tissues of the ovaries in which the ova or eggs are formed. The disease is diagnosed in 22,000 women in the U.S. and kills about 15,460 women each year in the country. The study led by Konstantinos K. Tsilidis of the University of Oxford and colleagues shows two commonly used hormone replacement therapies, both estrogen based and estrogen plus progestin based, were associated with increased risk of ovarian cancer. Hormone therapy is commonly used to help women relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes in post menopausal women. Previous studies have already linked the therapy with increased risk of breast cancer. Ovarian cancer is like breast cancer in that its growth is driven by hormones. The researchers followed 126,920 post-menopausal women in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition for nine years and 424 cases of ovarian cancers were identified. Women who were currently using any hormone therapy was correlated with 29 percent increased risk of ovarian cancer. But former users of hormone therapies were not at increased risk somehow. To be exact, those who were using estrogen only hormone therapy was linked with a 63 percent increased risk while current estrogen plus progestin therapy users were at 20 percent increased risk, which is not statistically significant. Particularly higher risk was found associated with users of Tibolone - a synthetic steroid hormone drug that is common used to treat endometriosis and used for hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women. They were at 120 percent increased risk for ovarian cancer, compared with those who did not use. Those who want to avoid using hormone replacement therapy should be misled by the propaganda to promote sales of hormones. Natural identical hormones are the term commonly used to mislead consumers to believe natural hormones are safe. The fact is that synthetic hormones or natural hormones that are same as endogenous peers like estrogen are extremely powerful, compared to the environmental estrogenic compounds. The former can be 10,000 to 100,000 times more powerful than the latter. Dietary factors are believed to affect the risk of ovarian cancer. A recent study in the Jan 2011 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that consumption of **trans fat**, which is already known to boost risk of coronary heart disease, may also increase risk of ovarian cancer. Anne MJ Gilsing of Maastricht University in Maastricht, Netherlands and colleagues surveyed 62,573 postmenopausal women aged 55 to 69 in the Netherlands Cohort Study for about 16 years and identified 340 cases of ovarian cancer. The researchers found total fat, saturated fat, mono- and polyunsaturated fats, animal fat, plant-based fat, dairy fat, other fat source, fresh meat, processed meat and fish were not associated with ovarian cancer risk. However, they found those who had highest intake of trans unsaturated fatty acids were correlated with 51 percent increased risk of the female reproductive malignancy. Trans fat is also known as partially hydrogenated fat used in processed foods to render desirable texture and flavor and quality stability. Harvard researchers say trans fat is responsible for 100,000 deaths from heart disease in the United States. The Food and Drug Administration requires food processors to label content of trans fat in processed foods if 0.5 grams per serving is used. However, food processors can label trans fat as zero gram if no more than 0.5 per serving is used. Ovarian cancer symptoms include abdominal discomfort or pain, bloating and or a feeling of fullness after even a light meal, nausea, diarrhea, constipation or frequent urination, weigh loss or gain, loss of appetite, abnormal vaginal bleeding, back pain, pain during sexual intercourse, and menstrual changes. One method to prevent ovarian cancer is to have a few children. Studies show women have children are less likely to develop the disease. **Dietary cholesterol** may also affect the risk. A study led by J. Hu and colleagues from Centre for Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, Public Health Agency of Canada and published on May 4, 2011 in Annals of Oncology suggests high dietary intake of cholesterol was associated with increased risk of cancers of the ovaries. Cholesterol was also linked to elevated risk of stomach, colon, rectum, pancreas, lung, breast (mainly postmenopausal), kidney, bladder and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas.