HRT increases odds of ovarian cancer: Study

However, the cancer risk diminishes about two years after the cessation of therapy, the study reports.

Research Methodology:
The study embarked at the Copenhagen University in Denmark scrutinized medical records of 909,946 Danish women aged 50 to 79 at the start of the study. 63 percent of the study participants had never sought hormone replacement therapy and 22 percent, though currently off it, had received treatment in the past. 9 percent were current users, of which 46 percent had been in treatment for over seven years.

Findings of the study:
During the eight year trail, the researchers found 3,068 cases of ovarian cancer including 2,681 cases of epithelial ovarian cancers, the most common type of ovarian tumor infecting the outer lining of the ovaries.

Furthermore, women currently undergoing HRT were 38 percent more likely to develop ovarian cancer and 44 percent more likely to develop epithelial ovarian tumors as compared to those who never had the treatment, the researchers found.

Moreover, previous hormone therapy users stood a 15 percent higher risk of developing ovarian cancer as against non-users. Also, two years after stopping therapy, the risk of developing ovarian cancer plunged to a risk similar to those who never used the treatments, study’s lead author, Lina Steinrud Morch marked.

Prevalence of the disease:
One extra case of ovarian cancer is diagnosed for roughly every 8,300 women seeking HRT each year, researchers assert. “Even though this share seems low, ovarian cancer remains highly fatal, so accordingly this risk warrants consideration,” Morch cautioned.

According to the American Cancer Society, ovarian cancer, the most fatal of gynecologic cancers, is expected to add 21,550 new cases in the U.S. this year. With a prevalence of 18 in 100,000 women in the U.S., the tumor killed 15,000 American women in 2007.

The results of the study feature in the July 15 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.