Hormone Replacement Therapy and Ovarian Cancer—Making Sense of Recent Reports
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Menopause occurs when a woman’s ovaries stop making two hormones—progesterone and estrogen. After a hysterectomy, women receive a therapy called estrogen replacement therapy, or ERT. This is a treatment with estrogen alone. Women who still have their uterus at menopause receive hormone replacement therapy, or HRT. HRT replaces both hormones. HRT has been used for more than 60 years. Still, its health risks and benefits are subjects of controversy.
HRT offsets certain side-effects of menopause. It also reduces certain health risks. For instance, both HRT and ERT can significantly reduce the risk of osteoporosis. Both also relieve many symptoms of menopause.
Recent studies suggest HRT may reduce the risk of dementia. They also suggest HRT may reduce memory loss and colon cancer. But more studies are needed to confirm these findings.
What’s not so clear is the effect of HRT and ERT on the risk of heart disease. A study called the Women’s Health Initiative found an increased risk of heart disease in women with an intact uterus who took HRT. No increased risk was seen, though, in women who had had a hysterectomy and were taking ERT. This would include most women who have had ovarian cancer.
