Postmenopausal hormone therapy: have HERS2 and WHI given us any new information?

TL;DRAbstract

There still remains no consensus on the role of HRT in the initiation of breast cancer. Stimulation of an otherwise occult breast cancer leading to more frequently diagnosed breast cancers may seem more feasible and supported by the survival data. Although HERS and WHI both fail to offer support for a cardiovascular protective effect of HRT, other studies differ in their conclusions. There is still no true primary prevention randomized trial, and we may never have one. To take or not to take HRT may be one of the most important decisions a woman makes in her lifetime. For millions of women, now expected to live into their ninth decade, this is more than a theoretical question; it is a potentially life-altering one. For the majority of women, the cancer-phobia that leads to an avoidance of HRT is neither rational nor based on scientific evidence. However, there may be a relatively small subset of women for whom HRT does pose a potential health risk. Every health decision a woman makes i

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