Breast cancer metastasis increases after oestrogen and progestin hormone therapies
Friday, May 7, 2010 - 06:50
in Health & Medicine
After menopause, 6 to 10 million women take hormone therapies, which are often a combination of oestrogen and progestin, to replace hormones lost from inactive ovaries. Progestin is a hormone that is used to counteract the potentially negative effects of oestrogen therapy on the uterus. In studies sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, evidence has been found that oestrogen and progestin in hormone therapies increase the risk of breast cancer in post-menopausal women. Now, a University of Missouri study has found that progestins can also increase the chance of the cancer metastasising, or spreading to the lymph nodes...