13 Feb 2015

A small link between HRT and ovarian cancer

First there was a headline from another media outlet:  women taking HRT have a 40 per cent increased risk of ovarian cancer.  Then there was scepticism from some other researchers that any real link had been proved at all.

What the truth appears to be is that there is a link, albeit a small – very small – one.  The study, published in the Lancet and co-authored by the eminent Sir Richard Peto, from the University of Oxford, is based on a meta-analysis of 52 previous studies.

What they believe now is that it raised the risk for women even if they took HRT for less than five years, although it reduces once they have stopped.

The increased risk is one extra ovarian cancer per 1,000 users and about one extra death for every 1,700 women on the therapy.

It has been known for more than a decade that there is a link between HRT and breast cancer.  That was discovered as part of the Million Women Study.  It led to tens of thousands of women being taken off HRT.

But it also meant that thousands of women went back to the horribleness of sweats, hot flushes, dryness, mood swings, depression.

Since then, the advice has been to weigh up the risks with your doctor, make sure you have regular health check ups and annual assessments.

Katherine Taylor, chief executive of Ovarian Cancer Action, said that it was important to look at the risks versus the benefits. And she said that one good point was that it has raised the profile of ovarian cancer.

Seven thousand women a year are diagnosed with it and it still has only a 43 per cent survival rate at five years – we lag behind many other countries.

For how to spot the signs, go to www.ovarian.org.uk.

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