Menopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy and Cancer Risk

For decades, women have used hormone therapy to ease symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes and sweating. This is called menopausal hormone therapy, and you may see it abbreviated as HT or MHT. You may also hear it described as hormone replacement therapy (HRT), postmenopausal hormone therapy (PHT), or postmenopausal hormones (PMH).

In the past, many doctors and their patients believed that MHT didnt just help with hot flashes and other symptoms it had important health benefits. But well-conducted studies have led doctors to conclude that the risks of MHT often outweigh the benefits. Still, each woman should discuss her concerns with her doctor.

This document will cover how MHT can affect a womans risk of getting certain cancers. It will not go into the possible effects of MHT on other diseases like osteoporosis (bone thinning), stroke, heart disease, blood clots, and dementia.

This is not a policy statement of the American Cancer Society its a summary of published medical studies on the subject. Women who are thinking about using MHT should talk with their doctors about the information here. Women should also understand the risks and benefits of MHT and the follow-up they will need if MHT is used. Based on this information, a woman and her doctor may decide that hormones are or are not needed for a short time to help with symptoms of menopause. As the menopausal change winds down, most of the symptoms taper off. At that time, its often a good idea to stop MHT.

Menopause is the time in a womans life when the ovaries stop working and she stops having menstrual periods for good. Menopause is sometimes called the change of life, or just the change. The ovaries stop releasing eggs and making the female hormones, estrogen and progesterone. In the months or years leading up to natural menopause, menstrual periods may become less frequent and irregular, and hormone levels may go up and down. This time is called perimenopause or the menopausal transition. Since periods can become less frequent during this time, it can be hard to know when they have actually stopped (and you have gone through menopause) until you look back at a later time.

Women who have their ovaries removed by surgery (oophorectomy) or whose ovaries stop working for other reasons go through menopause, too, but much more suddenly (without the menopausal transition).

Women who have had their uterus removed (a hysterectomy) but still have their ovaries stop having periods, but they dont really go through menopause until their ovaries stop working. This is often determined based on symptoms, but your doctor can tell for certain by testing your blood for levels of certain hormones made by the pituitary gland, called luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). These hormones help regulate the ovaries before menopause. When levels of female hormones get lower during menopause, the levels of FSH and LH go up. High levels of FSH and LH, along with low levels of estrogen, can be used to diagnose menopause in a woman who has had her uterus removed.

Some drugs can turn off the ovaries and cause menstrual periods to stop for a time. Although this is not the same as menopause, it can lead to many of the same symptoms.

Most of the symptoms of menopause are linked to lower estrogen levels. Some symptoms hot flashes and night sweats, for instance tend to fade away at some point, whether or not they are treated. Other problems, like dryness and thinning of vaginal tissues and bone thinning can start after menopause, and may get worse over time.

Because many of the symptoms and problems of menopause are linked to low levels of estrogen, this hormone has often been used in the past to treat menopause.

See more here:
Menopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy and Cancer Risk