To be worried about HRT and cancer risks?

That inforgraphic is really interesting. I am on estrogen only HRT as I have had a hysterectomy, and that appears to lower the risk, even though estrogen feeds the cancer? How does that work?

You’re more likely to get cancer from eating processed meat, to be honest. Maybe go on HRT and cut out meat, then you would be reducing your risk for breast cancer rather than increasing it.

No one cares about thrombosis risks when it comes to contraception pills, or risks of fertility treatment, but once hormones are used for our own good (and not for men's interests), suddenly people are oh so worried about the risks... I've been on hrt from late 30s and I'll decide about that, thank you very much.

One of the biggest risks is the drive to the surgery and then the pharmacy to get the HRT.
Hopefully the clinics/GP will be able to balance risk and benefit and help you decide which way to go.
I was lucky and menopause made no difference to me (apart from chucking out the hated condoms). But I would not want to spend my best years 40 to 50 feeling awful as so many women do

This is true but only for certain types of breast cancer. I’ve never taken HRT but got breast cancer two years ago at the age of 42. The tests showed that it was estrogen that fed the tumour. I now have to take hormone blockers which cause all the horrid menopausal side effects and I can’t do anything about it! Some breast cancers aren’t estrogen receptors though.

Make sure your oestrogen is properly balanced with your progesterone. Many GPs are not that knowledgeable in this area and you may be better off with a specialist menopause clinic. Unbalanced can cause thickening of the womb which can lead to problems.

I was prescribed the lowest possible dose in my early 50s and I am happy to continue taking it into old age!

I was diagnosed with osteoporosis in one hip and osteopenia in my spine when I was in my early 40s so I for me the benefits of HRT for my bones are more important than the low risk of cancer.

I do my mammograms and I don't drink or smoke and I am not overweight.

I heard an interview on the radio with a dr who was a menopause specialist. I can't remember her name but it wasn't Louise Newsom, she was older.
She said taking hrt had roughly the same risk as drinking moderate levels of alcohol and pointed out no one suggests not drinking to avoid cancer. It's a good point.

Maybe you could give up alcohol OP and start HRT. That way your risk factors for developing cancer won't really change and you'll most likely feel much better.

I have been on a high dose of HRT for 14 years and have annual mammograms. Stopping HRT would probably pose a worse risk to my health as with no sleep I wouldn’t exercise or be able to function. I have asked your question to two prominent menopause consultants and their answer was that I also need it to protect my heart and bones. I do not have dense breasts which can be an issue, but as far as I’m concerned the very small risk of breast cancer doesn’t outweigh the benefits.

Came to say the same. If you don’t want to click a clickety-link, this is the graphic. Puts all risk factors into perspective.

That's only true for oestrogen receptor positive cancer types. If there's no oestrogen receptor, it can't respond to oestrogen.

OP I started HRT at 42. I took it until I was 50 and then tried coming off it as advised by my gp. The hot flushes came back so I carried on with it (trying to stop at intervals) but then decided to stop completely when I was 52 as I felt 10 years was enough.
However the hot flushes carried on and carried on and after 18 months of it I begged to be put back on it!.

My GP agreed and I've now been back on it for 9 months. I decided that I was prepared to accept any increased risk of breast cancer by that point. However what I did do when I was 50 was sign up to a breast cancer screening trial. I had my first NHS screening at 51.5 and since then have had 3 annual screens as part of the trial. As well as the standard mammogram I have a scan at my local hospital.

Once the trial is over I plan to look into the feasibility and cost of private scans so I can carry on with annual checks.

Good luck!

Came to post this, it is an excellent evidence based comparison of different risk factors.

How about rather than the Big Decision of Yes/No you choose a 3-6 month “suck it and see” experiment. There’s no data to suggest use in that time frame could give you cancer. And it will allow you to see how you feel on it and make an informed choice in the future based on how you personally benefitted (or not) from being on it ?

My poor GP faced down an extremely risk averse me when it came to anti-depressants. My heels were so dug in out of fear of the unknown and stuff I’d read on the internet of other people’s less lovely experiences that it felt like choosing to chuck myself off a cliff and hope I landed in a boggy bit at the bottom. That was not appealing AT ALL.

The “suck it see” short term experiment he eventually offered made it feel like jumping off a low stool instead. And I was willing to give that less scary leap into the unknown a try.

I went to an info session about HRT which was very good at explaining the risk. Yes there is a slightly increased cancer risk from taking HRT - this was shown with an infographic of 100 people and the number who might develop cancer due to HRT compared to if they hadn't taken HRT highlighted. Then for comparison purposes the same infographic was shown for all the other risks we accept in our daily lives either to gain practical benefits or avoid painful or difficult alternatuves, and it put it into perspective that there's all sorts of things that we balance the elevated risk with the benefits/avoidance of different negatives and there's no perfect way of living that avoids all risks and negatives. If you are experiencing uncomfortable symptoms that HRT would relieve then it's your choice to set the balance point at which the benefits of the improved quality of life the HRT would bring would outweigh the potentially elevated risk, but that's a decision you are used to making all the time if you ever do any of the other things that are associated with an elevated cancer risk (of which there are literally thousands)

This is a difficult one for me as I have just been diagnosed with estrogen positive breast cancer and was taking HRT .
I loved my HRT and it helped me manage a lot of menopause symptoms which were making my life incredibly difficult.
A bit of me does regret taking it as I will never know if it was the link to my cancer but I think you just have to make the right decision in that moment and with the facts to hand . And at that time HRT was the answer and did make my life so much better .
I think most things in life come with risks you just have to weigh up which is the better option for you

My mum was on it for years.

Has had breast cancer twice in her mid-70s. Both time lumpectomy, no chemo or radiation (her choice). HRT was stopped at the first diagnosis. She’s in her 80s now. The decline in her mood and brain clarity has been notable, but that might have happened anyway.

She’s doing better than my gran and great gran. Neither had HRT. Great gran died of cancer and dementia in her mid 70s. Gran died of dementia with horrendous osteoporosis in her early 70s.

I’ll go to my grave with a box of Sandrena clutched in my hands (just in case there is an afterlife and it has menopause in it). My position if coloured by how badly my mental health declined to a dangerous degree in peri. All things considered I’d rather my husband and son had to grieve my passing from a disease, than an incident caused by my own hand. And in the period of life that I have before I shuffle off this mortal coil I want to live as physically & mentally pain free as possible.

All things are a roll of the dice. The cancer risk of HRT was very overblown for a very long time. The health costs of NOT taking it concern me more than any known health costs of being on it.

I was on HRT for years. I got breast cancer. Doesn’t mean one caused the other. One in seven women get breast cancer at some point in their lives. I had other risk factors, family history and I’m overweight. I stopped drinking to reduce my personal risk, got it anyway. I don’t regret the years of bone protection I had as i now have to live without any oestrogen. I weighed up the risks vs benefits at the time.

i hope you can feel better x

Oestrogen protects against cardio vascular disease which is also one of the main causes of death in older women alongside dementia.

What is your family history? If you have a prevalence of cancer in your family, specifically hormonal cancers, then a chat to your GP may be in order. If you have an immediate familial breast cancer risk, you should already be flagged for screening.

If you are already taking all sensible measures - eating well, not drinking or smoking, regular exercise, normal weight, exercising regularly, minimising stress etc - the benefits of modern bio-indentical HRT will likely outweigh the risks.

Do some proper research from credible medical sources and then make your decision. Rabbit holes are never a good place from which to make a decision.

I guess you could look at it in this way: with the HRT you say you can sleep and run again.... that will improve your overall health, which I believe lessens risk of cancer...

While there is always some risk with taking any medication, it’s worth bearing in mind that even the highest doses of HRT are much lower than those regularly prescribed in the contraceptive pill, which also causes a slight increase in the risk of breast cancer and blood clots but millions of women still take safely every day.

Did the research you looked at include body identical hormones which are thought to be safer than synthetic? Have you looked at the links between falling oestrogen rates and heart health, or possible links with hormones in women and Alzheimer’s? Osteoporosis? It’s really important to look at the whole picture here, even if you still decide to go a different route.

For me, HRT has been life-changing and I feel the small level of risk is worth it to feel this much better in myself. You might decide differently and that’s also fine. I just think that it’s important to have all of the information.

You have to weigh up slight increased risk and all the benefits you gain if it does relieve your symptoms. When I was prescribed HRT I was also referred to the Familial Breast Cancer Clinic because both my maternal aunts had breast cancer before the age of 50, two different types and no HRT involved for them. My Mum was tested for BRCA1 and BRCA2 because of her sisters. She did not have the gene.

You also have to remember that as technology moves on they are getting better at detecting breast cancer and we are living longer so there are more older people too.

I have had a friend who had breast cancer at 40 and again at 43. This means I check my breasts every month because I have seen what it does and the treatment. I am still taking HRT because of the relief from the symptoms. You may be in the never gets breast cancer category too.

Have a read of Dr Louise Newson’s website