INCIDENCE OF BENIGN AND MALIGNANT BREAST DISORDERS IN WOMEN TAKING HORMONES (CONTRACEPTIVE PILL OR HORMONAL REPLACEMENT THERAPY)

The incidence of breast disorders, in a series of 142 women of reprodu ctive age who received combined oral contraception (OC) far birth cont rol and in 98 postmenopausal women who received hormone replacement th erapy (HRT) with estrogens and progestins, for seven years, was compar ed with control groups. A lower incidence of benign breast diseases wa s observed among OC users (p<0.001) and HRT recipients (p<0.001). No d ifferences were observed in the incidence of breast cancer among the g roups studied. OC use and HRT do not increase the risk for breast canc er and decrease the incidence of benign breast diseases.