Danger of bio idential HRT

[bet2]

I wanted to share and maybe help others. I'm 59 and five years ago I went to Marion Gluck to get bio identical HRT. I was suffering symptoms like hot sweats and was convinced by the case that bio identical HRT was safer than traditional medical HRT. After 4 months of taking bio identical hormones, I discovered in a routine breast mammogram that I had breast cancer. Fortunately this was detected early and I had a successful lumpectomy. Three months later I was diagnosed with lymphoma (a blood cancer). Up to this point I had been an exceptionally fit and healthy woman and there is absolutely no history of cancer in my family. I have told the Marion Gluck clinic about my diagnosis and I particularly wanted to ensure that I was statistically recorded as a woman with cancer, following taking of bio identical HRT. The Clinic ignored my mails for many months and have not engaged. I am writing to warn other women of the potential danger. The Clinic presents their 'natural' products as safe but there is no clinical evidence for this. My cancers may not be related to HRT but they may be and there should be statsitical evidence gathered about bio identical HRT.

Possibly but I have and had regular mammograms and had no cancer prior to HRT prescribed by Marion Gluck. No one knows whether there is a direct corelation between the drugs prescribe by Marion Gluck and my cancer. My point is that, like all drugs, there is a risk. And as you point out the Marion Gluck centre and other prescribing 'bio identical hormones' offer these drugs as a safe bet. In my case they have not been proven to be safe and furthermore there seems to be no way of monitoring the number of women that are diagnosed with cancer, following the taking of these drugs.

The programme on TV last night prompted me to post on Mumsnet. I'm not saying that the drugs proscribed by Marion Gluck Clinic necessarily caused my cancers. My concern is that privately prescribed drugs do not seem to share stats on those that get cancer while or after taking the drugs. On the NHS these stats are collected and shared. My approaches to the Gluck Centre following my cancer were entirely about sharing this information with the NHS so people could take an informed view. The Marion Gluck Centre failed to answer my mails for months.

My concern is that privately prescribed drugs do not seem to share stats on those that get cancer while or after taking the drugs

The issue is not drugs that are prescribed privately, the point you are discussing is bio-identical drugs that are compounded in a lab and made for each individual person.

Many women have drugs prescribed privately. These are the same drugs they would get on the NHS.

Research into drugs and side effects are carried out on a wide range of people in huge trials of thousands of people. The NHS does not carry out these trials- they are done by research scientists and pharma companies. It's nothing to do with the NHS and many of this research is done overseas by scientists in universities outside the UK.

Sorry to hear about your cancers bet2 but it is extremely unlikely (if not impossible?) that anyone would develop breast cancer so quickly after starting HRT such that a causal connection could be made.

Coincidentally I have just come across this recent consensus statement from the British Menopause Society about the risks and benefits of HRT before and after a breast cancer diagnosis: journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/2053369119825716

Reading this paper and as JinglingHellsBells says - all the information about risk comes from research trials which give risk in terms of populations of women. They do of course say nothing about an individual's risk but aside from genetic factors, this can be minimised through lifestyle measures - notably keeping slim (healthy BMI), taking exercise and limiting alcohol intake which are associated with far greater risks of BC.

My understanding is that the NHS data will record the prescribing of the drugs. If the prescribed items were specials (ie compounded just for you as suggested above) they may be more difficult to flag .
You could fill out a Yellow Card for the Medicines and Healthcare Regularary Agency (yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcards/reportmediator/ ) . Patients can now report it doesn't have to be a HCP. Its a while since I did one but I am fairly sure that you can report "specials" .
Both of your diseases might have been co-incidence but it is worth raising, however MHRA may be a better route, as medicines are their remit.

Sorry I should have said that NHS data will record the bio identical product you were taking if the NHS Clinician was aware- which could be because you advised them at or prior to your consultation.Unless things have changed, there is no compulsion for a Private prescriber to notify the patient's GP of their prescribing. ( Big omission in my view but that is a whole new topic)

It really doesn't matter if the drugs are privately prescribed or not the rules around reporting of suspected side effects apply to all healthcare professionals. They should at least report these events to the MHRA and the Pharma companies so it can recorded and analysed.

But that isn't really the issue here is it?
These drugs are unlicensed in the UK. Patients should be aware of that when they enter into the 'contract' with the HCP.

The other issue is that there is no cause-effect here. You cannot prove a drug caused something like cancer when it's not part of a controlled trial.

It is also impossible as Bellaciao said, that HRT or any drug probably , would cause cancer within 4 months, and certainly impossible to prove. You can't even 'prove' that cancer in someone who has used HRT long term is a cause-effect, on an individual basis, because there are too many other variables.

I'm making this point generally not about the clinic in question.