The government study found that women who'd taken estrogen-progestin pills for about five years were more prone to lung cancers than who had not. Women who'd taken hormones but stopped were 24 percent more likely to develop any kind of cancer than women who'd taken dummy pills during the study.
These women also suffered from breast tumors, which also occurred more frequently in hormone users during the study. However, the increased risks for all cancers amounted to only three extra cases per year for every 1,000 women on hormone pills, it was found.
Experts are urging such women to be more careful and get annual cancer screening including mammograms. The initial study of 16,608 postmenopausal women was halted in 2002 when more breast cancers, heart attacks and related problems were found in hormone users versus nonusers.
The health benefits included decreased risks for hip fractures and colorectal cancer but the benefits halted after women stopped the pills. However, the study out this evening does not address those women currently on hormone replacement therapy, typically at half the dose for only a couple of years, and whether it's much safer.
The authors have concluded that health risks from estrogen-progestin pills outweigh their benefits. They should only be used to relieve hot flashes and other menopause symptoms, in the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible duration.
The new analysis appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.
