HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY AND THE RISK OF BREAST-LESIONS THAT PREDISPOSE TO CANCER

To determine whether postmenopausal individuals being treated with hor mone replacement therapy (HRT) have an increased risk for lesions that predispose to breast cancer, 156 women with benign breast lesions wer e retrospectively studied. Their ages ranged from 43 to 88. Each patie nt underwent a breast biopsy from 1991 to 1995. It was determined from chart review whether each of these patients had been treated with HRT . Fifty-seven of these patients had a biopsy finding that predisposed the patient to future breast cancer. The predisposing lesions included sclerosing adenosis, intraductal papilloma, and epithelial hyperplasi a with atypia. Of these 57 patients, 36 (63%) were being treated with HRT. Only 30 of the 99 patients (30%) with nonproliferative lesions we re treated with HRT (odds ratio, 3.9; P < 0.0005). On the basis of the results of this study, we believe that the use of HRT may promote les ions that predispose to cancer. This suggests that patients treated wi th HRT require vigilant surveillance by way of examination and mammogr aphy.