Long-term Hormone Replacement Therapy and Risk of Breast Cancer in Postmenopausal Women

Despite extensive study, concerns remain about a possible association between long-term postmenopausal hormone treatment--particularly use of combination preparations--and risk of breast cancer. The authors evaluated the use of postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy in relation to breast cancer risk in a large multicenter, population-based case-control study. Women with a new diagnosis of breast cancer were identified through statewide tumor registries in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire. Controls were randomly selected from population lists in each state. For this analysis of postmenopausal women, data were available from 3,130 breast cancer cases and 3,698 controls interviewed between 1989 and 1991. Replacement hormone use was not associated with breast cancer risk in women who had ever undergone this treatment (relative risk (RR) = 1.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.93-1.18). Among women who had used replacement hormones for 15 years or more, there was no clear increase in risk, although the small sample size did not preclude the possibility of a modest association (RR = 1.11, 95% CI 0.87-1.43). Risk among women using progestins in combination with estrogens was similar to that in women using estrogens alone. Risk did not vary according to type of menopause, family history of breast cancer, history of benign breast disease, or alcohol intake. These results are consistent with the majority of reports which find no overall increased risk associated with the use of replacement hormones. However, in contrast to several other studies, this study did not find long-term use to be associated with increased risk. These results also do not support a hypothesized effect of combined progestin and estrogen use on the risk of breast cancer.