Pharmaceutical Estrogens increase breast cancer. Do bioidentical hormones have the same risk?

In the E3N French Women Prospective study of breast cancer, they looked at 53,000 postmenopausal women, with an average age of 53 years over a period of eight years, to see if there was any increased risk of breast cancer related to bioidentical vs. synthetic hormone use. The first results were published in 2005. The conclusion of the study was that those women who used synthetic hormones had a 60% higher risk of breast cancer, while bioidentical hormone users had the same breast cancer risk as women who did not take hormones at all.

This is very good news as many women can benefit from getting bioidentical hormone therapy to help with menopausal symptoms.

For information about betting bioidentical hormones in the Tampa Bay area call Lifeworks Wellness Center at 727.466.6789. We specialize in women’s hormonal issues and can help you begin feeling better immediately.

References

Fournier et. al., “Use of different postmenopausal hormone therapies and risk of histology- and hormone receptor-defined invasive breast cancer,” J. Clin Oncol 2008 Mar 10;26(8):1260-8.

Fournier et. al., “Unequal risks for breast cancer associated with different hormone replacement therapies: results from the E3N cohort study,” Breast Cancer Res Treat 2008 Jan;107(1):103-11.

Fournier et. al., “Breast cancer risk in relation to different types of hormone replacement therapy in the E3N-EPIC cohort,” Int J Cancer 2005 Apr 10;114(3):448-54.

L’Hermite et al, x93Could transdermal estradiol+progesterone be a safer postmenopausal HRT? A review,x94 Maturitas 2008 Vol 60, Issue 3, Pages 185-