A retrospective analysis of data from the Women’s Health Initiative study, which was presented at ASCO, showed that women with non-small-cell lung cancer who used hormone replacement therapy were more than twice as likely to die from their cancer as those who did not take HRT. Richard Schilsky, president of ASCO, stated that the findings are “another piece of evidence to suggest that hormone replacement therapy should be used with great caution.”
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Researchers examined data from more than 16 600 women who were divided approximately equally into groups who took HRT or placebo. After more than five years taking HRT, data showed 96 cases of NSCLC and 67 deaths from the disease. In comparison, there were 72 cases of NSCLC and 39 related deaths among women in the study who took placebo. Researchers noted that the difference in the number of cases was not significant, but that the difference in the number of deaths was.
Further analysis indicated that among smokers in the study, 3.4 percent of women treated with HRT died of lung cancer, compared with 2.3 percent of those who received placebo. For non-smokers, 0.2 percent of women in the HRT group died from the disease, compared with 0.1 percent of those in the placebo arm. In response to the data, lead author Rowan Chlebowski warned that “women almost certainly shouldn’t be using combined hormone therapy and tobacco at the same time.”
Commenting on the findings, Wyeth, which markets Prempro (oestrogen and progestin), stated that the same risks observed in the analysis might no longer apply, given the current manner in which the drug is prescribed. The company’s head of medical affairs Joseph Camardo remarked that women in the WHI trial used high doses of HRT over a long period of time and started treatment at an average age of 63 years. “Practice has already changed significantly. Guidance and the label have changed…use has shifted toward much shorter duration and lower doses,” he explained.
In addition, Len Lichtenfeld of the American Cancer Society noted that the number of deaths so far in the study is too small for researchers to be able to make broad conclusions about risk in the general population.
Source: FirstWord
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