Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) has previously been linked with several fatal conditions including breast cancer, stroke and heart diseases. A new large-scale study has now extended the concerns to include ovarian cancer in the list. The therapy involves administration of hormones including synthetic estrogen and progestin in women who have attained menopause. However, the study has found out that even short-term use of the drugs can potentially increase the chances of ovarian cancer in such women by 40%.
Most women in menopause opt for HRT despite being aware of the risks associated with the procedure. Although the administration of the drugs does help in stopping hot flashes, the therapy continues to be associated with a range of fatal conditions. A recent large-scale study has now also linked the therapy to increased risks of ovarian cancer.
The study involves a detailed analysis of all the previous researchers that sought to find a connection between the therapy and risks of ovarian cancer. In all, it evaluates 52 prior studies that involved over 21,488 women. The results of the HRT study were published on Thursday in The Lancet.
The study established that one in every 1,000 women who undergo the HRT for a continuous period of five years after attaining 50 years of age is likely to have ovarian cancer. The analysis also found that one of every 1,700 women taking HRT is likely to die because of ovarian cancer. The results were same for the two types of HRT commonly found in the market. While one of the two versions include only estrogen, the other contains both estrogen, as well as progestin.
Although the use of the therapy has declined since the early 2000s, there are still around six million women in the UK and the U.S. who continue the use of the therapy. The results were also found less fatal in cases of short-term usage.