Research findings published in the January edition of the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention suggest that the risk of colorectal cancer was reduced among postmenopausal women taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT), compared with women who never took the hormones. The largest risk reduction was observed among women who completed use of combined oestrogen and progestin five or more years earlier.
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Investigators analysed data from 56 733 postmenopausal women participating in the Breast Cancer Detection Demonstration Project follow-up study who had completed interviews and questionnaires between 1979 and 1998. During an average follow-up period of 15 years, 960 new cases of colorectal cancer were diagnosed. The data indicated that, among women who had ever used the combination of oestrogen plus progestin, colorectal cancer risk was reduced by 22 percent. A 36-percent risk reduction was observed among sequential progestin users, while those who had stopped the oestrogen plus progestin combination at least five years ago, had a 45-percent lower risk of developing the disease.
Meanwhile, any use of oestrogen therapy was associated with a 17-percent reduced colorectal cancer risk. In particular, current HRT users had a 25-percent reduced risk of developing the disease, versus women who had never used the hormones, while those on the therapy for ten or more years had a 26-percent lower risk. Lead author Jill Johnson specified that the study was not designed to assess the biological mechanism for the protective effect of oestrogen therapy, but that it “will need to be explored in further studies.”
Commenting on the results, John Stevenson, a consultant physician at the Royal Brompton Hospital, remarked that while HRT should not be administered solely to prevent colorectal cancer, “women who are considered to be at increased risk…should be actively encouraged to initiate HRT early in the menopause if there are any other indications for it, and should be encouraged to consider long-term use since there is evidence of greater benefit with duration of use.”
Source: FirstWord
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