The Australasian Menopause Society notes with interest any new information about the risks and benefits of the use of HRT in women experiencing menopausal symptoms. Research published in Medical Journal of Australia on June 2, 2008 has suggested a link between the decline in HRT use in Australia and a decline in breast cancer rates among women. 

This research has found that the prescribing of HRT in Australia dropped by 40 per cent between 2001 and 2003. The authors suggest that this decline in the prescribing of HRT is linked to a drop in incidence rates of breast cancer of 6.7% in 2003 compared with 2001.

The decline in prescribing HRT has been attributed to the release in 2002 of the results of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) Study, which reported an increased risk of breast cancer with combined oestrogen and progestogen HRT use for more than 5 years. It should be noted that, as stated in the original WHI report in 2002, no increase in risk was observed in the 76% of participants who were first-time users of HRT, and an actual decrease in risk was subsequently documented for hysterectomised women treated with oestrogen alone.

The reported association over a brief time period in the 2008 article cannot establish a causal link between HRT use and breast cancer rates and should not be used to advocate changes in HRT prescribing. Rates for breast cancer fluctuated between 1995 and 2004, falling between 1995 and 1996 by more than the currently reported fall, and again between 1998 and 1999, yet at these times HRT use was actually increasing.

 For further information please contact http://www.menopause.org.au/ or 07 4642 1603.

Content Updated 11 June, 2008