Breast Cancer Survivors

The relationship between breast cancer and hormone replacement therapy has been studied and debated for a number of years. The Nurses’ Health Study was published in 1996 and revealed that there was a 41% increased risk of breast cancer in women who were on hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Since then, the connection between HRT and breast health has been looked at very critically in numerous studies done throughout the world. If one critically analyzes all of the available data, the bottom line actually shows that women who take HRT consisting of Estrogen and Progestin (synthetic form of Progesterone) do have an increased incidence of breast cancer. Women who take Estrogen only have no increased risk of breast cancer, and women who take a combination of Estrogen and Progesterone (bioidentical) have a decreased risk of breast cancer.

For women who have had stage I breast cancer (with no lymph node involvement), it has been shown in two studies that have been published in the literature that women who go on HRT consisting of Estrogen only have actually been shown to have no increased risk of recurrence of their breast cancer compared to women who were not on HRT.

At Biosymmetry, we believe that women who have Estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, which is outside the breast in lymph nodes or other metastatic disease, are generally not candidates for HRT, and in fact, may best be served by using Progesterone and/or Testosterone – in some cases with an aromatase inhibitor to prevent conversion into Estrogen.

*Individual results may vary.