Word: ovarian
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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TAKE TWO Just a couple of weeks ago, scientists reported that women using estrogen-replacement therapy for 10 years or more could double their risk of ovarian cancer. Now comes some reassuring news. A preliminary study suggests that combining estrogen with progestin wipes out any increased risk from the estrogen. An estimated 10.5 million American women take estrogen alone--most after they have had a hysterectomy. About 6.5 million are on the combo...
...evidence over the years that the answer is yes and yet plenty of data that lean toward no. Just last week a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association said that taking estrogen for 10 years or more doubles a woman's risk of dying from ovarian cancer. Is it any wonder women are confused...
Until then, whenever any new study--like the ovarian-cancer report--comes along, you have to consider it as part of the larger picture. The first thing you must realize, says Dr. Carmen Rodriguez, a senior epidemiologist at the American Cancer Society who led the study, is that a woman's chances of dying from ovarian cancer are pretty low--about 1.7% over the course of her lifetime. Twice a low risk is still a low risk. (Study participants who took estrogen actually lived longer than those who didn't--partly because such volunteers often live healthier lives and have...
...conducted at a time when most doctors still gave women estrogen by itself. Since then, women who haven't undergone a hysterectomy have generally received estrogen plus progestin because the combo reduces the risk of uterine cancer. It's quite possible taking both drugs reduces the risk of ovarian cancer as well...
...JoAnn Manson, chief of preventive medicine at Harvard's Brigham and Women's Hospital. Nor is there anything in the latest study to suggest that women should avoid taking hormones for a few years around menopause. However, as a practical matter, women who have a family history of ovarian cancer or have undergone a partial hysterectomy (ovaries still intact) may want to rethink their choices for long-term hormone replacement. The rest of us are just going to have to wait four years for more definitive answers...