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news.A study by researchers at Oxford University's cancer epidemiology unit involving more than 1.1 million British patients has found that delaying hormone therapy lowers breast cancer risk among menopausal women.
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The study updates research that showed a link between the therapy– known as HRT– and breast cancer risk, and is the first to investigate the timing of the treatment.
The study has shown that there was little to no increased risk for women getting estrogen alone if they had started therapy at least five years after menopause. However, if they began estrogen alone less than five years after menopause, the risk increased to 4.3 breast cancers per 1,000 women.
Meanwhile, women who started the combination of estrogen and progestin less than five years after menopause showed a rate of 6.1 per thousand — about double the risk of never-users.
Lead researcher for the study at Oxford University Valerie Beral has said that it is not only the interval, but also the kind of HRT women take which matters. If women start taking HRT during or around menopause, the risks of breast cancer are higher.