Another hormone therapy problem: Skewed mammogram results

Another hormone therapy problem: Skewed mammogram results

And the negatives about estrogen combined with progestin hormone replacement therapy (HRT) just keep rolling in

Last week, in the e-Alert “Red Flags” (4/3/08), I told you about the Journal of the American Medical Association study that showed how cancer risk (including breast and lung cancers) and other chronic health problems linger for years after women have stopped using combined HRT.

In light of that revelation, a recent study from the Archives of Internal Medicine is even more unsettling.

During the Women’s Health Initiative HRT trial, more than 16,000 women were given yearly mammograms. Biopsies were conducted as needed. When researchers at UCLA Medical Center reviewed medical records from the study, they found that women who used combined HRT were more likely to have abnormal mammograms, prompting a greater number of unnecessary biopsies.

Lead author of the study, Dr. Rowan Chlebowski, told Reuters: “One in 10 women are told they had an abnormal mammogram they’ll have to deal with, and probably even more importantly, one in 25 women will have an otherwise avoidable breast biopsy.”

Mammograms and biopsies were also found to be less reliable in actually detecting cancer among users of combined HRT. This is due at least in part to the fact that HRT use increases breast tissue density.

And Dr. Chlebowski noted this additional troubling detail: One year after HRT was discontinued, the risk of unreliable results from mammograms and breast biopsies was present even in younger HRT users in their 40s.

Source:
“Hormone Therapy Skews Mammogram Results” Reuters, 2/25/08, reuters.com