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Breast Tenderness After Starting Combination Hormone Therapy May Indicate Higher Breast Cancer Risk
Postmenopausal women who experience new-onset breast tenderness after starting combination hormone therapy may face increased risk for breast cancer, according to an Archives of Internal Medicine study.
Researchers examined data on some 17,000 Women's Health Initiative participants who were randomized to receive estrogen-progestin or placebo daily. In the hormone group, women with new-onset breast tenderness at 12 months were about 50% more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer during 5.6 years' follow-up, relative to those without tenderness. (There was no such association among placebo recipients.)
The sensitivity and specificity of breast tenderness for predicting cancer risk were 41% and 64%, respectively — which, the authors say, are similar to values for the Gail model.
The authors note that hormone-induced elevations in serum estrone and estrone sulfate might lead to increased breast tenderness and heightened cancer risk. They add that their findings "should be considered by ... prescribing physicians to inform decisions regarding continued combined hormone therapy."
LINK(S):
Archives of Internal Medicine article (Free)
Published in Physician's First Watch October 13, 2009
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