Hormones & breast cancer?

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Ab8602
Ab8602 Member Posts: 7
edited February 2016 in High Risk for Breast Cancer

I had a hysterectomy at the age of 20 & have since been on hormone replacement therapy(so about 18 yrs). Since my dr has suggested gene testing & bc risk, I've been curious. Has anyone here had bc that was hormone related & care to share? Thanks so much

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  • SpecialK
    SpecialK Member Posts: 16,486
    edited February 2016

    Approximately 80% of diagnosed breast cancer, of all types, is estrogen receptor positive - meaning that the tumor is fed by estrogen in the body.  Here is some info from this site that explains this:

    http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/hormone_status

    If you look at the signature lines below member posts you will see ER+ or ER-, this will tell you whether that member had estrogen fueled breast cancer or not.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited February 2016

    Hi Ab,

    In addition to the helpful info SpecialK provided, you may want to check out the main Breastcancer.org site's page on Breast Cancer Risk Factors: Using HRT.

    We hope this helps!

    --The Mods

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  • Ab8602
    Ab8602 Member Posts: 7
    edited February 2016

    Thank you for your reply. I'm a little uneasy about this ordeal, just because I don't know much about it. So I'm kinda soaking up any info I can find.

    My grandmother had a lump removed in her 30s.. Being back in the "day", she was just told that it was cancerous, but caught early bc she had found it so that it would be all she needed.. She lived another 40yrs.

    I'm more concerned about the yrs of hrt than family history, but I'll go ahead & do what they've recommended.

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  • Ab8602
    Ab8602 Member Posts: 7
    edited February 2016

    Thank you!! This sight is so helpful!

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  • mkkjd60
    mkkjd60 Member Posts: 583
    edited February 2016

    I would certainly advocate perhaps greater surveillance in your case due to the hrt. My mom took hrt for 12 years prior to her bc because of menopause symptoms (prior to the WHO study which raised the concern of higher bc among those using hrt). Her breast surgeon advised that the hrt may have contributed to her bc. So hard to know what to believe but be your own advocate and push for the surveillance. Blessings, Mary

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  • cymom
    cymom Member Posts: 54
    edited February 2016

    I thought that the risk associated with HRT was specific to peri or post menopausal women who are middle aged. The idea is that age increases bc risk, and so does estrogen, so it's a double whammy.

    A young person without ovaries who takes HRT would, I think, be at lower risk, because the amount of estrogen in the body is still lower than a woman of the same age with ovaries.

    I think the issue is probably just about what ageto stop, or taper, the HRT.

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