hormone replacement makes you high risk
Comments
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I keep asking myself why I came down with breast cancer when I'm active and overall healthy. I rarely get colds or the flu, maybe one slight cold in 3 yrs. I don't get flu shots.
And i remembered....
At the age of 56, when I began missing periods, my doctor suggested I take hormone replacement to make the transition easier. I didn't question him and for almost 3 years took it. One year after my last period I stopped taking it.
At the age of 62- 63 I had breast cancer. It probably began while taking the hormone replacements.
I wish now I would had tolerated the hot flashes and night sweats.
I wonder what the percentage of women getting breast cancer had taken hormone replacement?
And I wonder if the effects of the hormone replacement is still working in other parts of my body. I haven't researched this yet...just randon thoughts I had after my recent surgery.
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Yes, the decrease in BC incidence is thought to be related to the decline in HRT use. It is interesting that the HRT BC did seem to be less aggressive. The caveat may be the women had to be examined more frequently to renew script and thus were found earlier.Note on this board, even 3 years use was associated with risk. Many women thought this was an elixar of youth and they would take it forever.Beth
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Has anyone out there taken homomone placement during menopause? My cancer was aggressive...stage 3 and didn't have follow up. My doc just prescribed it without further visits. I was
told it would make menopause easier, bones stronger and protect me from a heart attack. I didn't ask questions, I do now.
There's nothing I can do about it... or do I know if it was the cause of my breast cancer. I think it put me at a higher risk.
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I took estrogen only (congenital absence of uterus, so didn't need the other) off and on for about 2 years. I took the lowest possible dose and tapered off after about a month each time.
I'm not sure that I can attribute my LCIS to this. From what I have been told, the cells probably began becoming abnormal before I even started taking HRT. However, I did think about that very hard when I was first diagnosed. It is one of the reasons that I did stop taking it several times, only to have the hot flashes come back so hard and heavy that I was waking up every hour.
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Hello! I too, have been on HRT for close to 25 years, since I had a hysterectomy at 26. I have taken the highest dose of Premarin on the market, and was diagnosed with indeterminate calcifications in one breast 10 months ago, Birads 4. Prior mammogram 8 months prior showed nothing. Tight cluster was discovered and doctor wanted a biopsy same day. Due to daily aspirin regimen for heart related problem, I needed to wait for a week without the aspirin to reduce risk of bleeding. The nurse prepared me for the worse, and explained the different types, and shapes of the calcifications, as well as the tight cluster of granular type. The result came back benign. I am so very grateful.
I am now exhibiting pain behind my nipple, a strange, cold sensation in one of my lymph nodes, and have had a strange rash on my breast that appeared and disappeared twice now in the past few months. At the time of my biopsy they inserted a titanium marker, and I have had intense itching over the past 4 months near my nipple as well. Thought perhaps allergic reaction to metal, but the doctor says no. I have an appointment this week with my GP, but the last time I saw her for this she told me it wasn't normal, but probably needed more time to heal. Can anyone shed any light on any of this for me? I'm sure that it's nothing, but just want the comfort of knowing for sure. This site is a true Godsend, and I can't believe by looking through some of the different categories, all of the truly wonderful, caring people there are!
Take care!
Donnylyn
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I believe the HRT connection to breast cancer applies to those with a primarily lobular diagnosis ......the type I had. See the link below.
I was on birth control pills for about 4 yrs before I was diagnosed. I remember asking my GYN at the time for a bone density test (I'm on the small side and osteoporosis runs in my family). To paraphrase him "no need to run a DEXA scan on you, you're on the pill which contains 3 times the amount of estrogen as HRT, your bones should be fine" YIKES 3x's the amount of estrogen with a mix of progestin as well!
Ok...all of my Dr's insisted I stop the pill immediately when I was diagnosed, and they all agreed that the "pill" fed my tumor a therapeutic dose of estrogen on a daily basis to enable it to grow faster and faster.
http://www.fhcrc.org/about/ne/news/2008/01/15/hormone_therapy.html
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When I was taking HRT's, I read the hand-out that came with it... I wish I would have read it a few years sooner. If I'm remembering it correctly, it said we had a 70% chance of getting BC. I fell off my chair. I stopped taking the pill that day. Maybe I read the 70% wrong, but I do remember telling someone about that percentage. Why my Dr. ever prescribed it, fully knowing my sister died of BC, is beyond me. Within 2-3 years after stopping the pill I was dx'd. And I wasn't surprised.
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I didn't take hrt---and had bc anyway. However, someone here just mentioned taking birth control pills. I took them for about 2 years when I was in my 20's, then had to get off because of blood pressure problems. Now, 30 years later--bc. My new onc did ask if I took them, but never made a comment when I told her. Probably not a connection after that many years, but who knows?
Jennifer
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I have just received information from the law firm that is gathering data for planned litigation on behalf on women who took HRT (Premarin & Provera or Prempro) and later developed any type of breast cancer, ovarian cancer or an autoimmune disease such as Lupus or Scleroderma. I had IDC and DCIS and have had several autoimmune diseases and am currently completing the paperwork to submit to the law firm. If you have an interest in seeing whether or not you can join in this effort, the firm's 800-number is: 800-359-7444. Maybe the industry that pushed these drugs can be held accountable. It's worth a try....
~Marin
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I think the extent to which birth control pills and HRT causes BC may be greater than expected but I don't think anyone ever thought that there was no risk and no connection. Many doctors didn't discuss it or may have downplayed it when prescribing these treatments, but I think it was always known.
I've had breast problems since I was a teen, starting with a fibroadenoma when I was 16 (back in the early 70s). At the same time, an aunt was diagnosed with BC. My doctor told me right then that I should avoid birth control pills because of the BC risk. Over the years, I talked to many other doctors and they always agreed, even though lower dose pills were coming onto the market. And as I moved into peri-menopause and menopause, knowing my history, not a single doctor ever suggested that I could consider HRTs. They were simply off limits.
In the end I got BC anyway. I have no way of knowing, but I suspect that had I taken the Pill, I might have been diagnosed years earlier.
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Hi gals,
Well gal's like many of you I took Birth Control for many years (1964-1976) then(1980's - 2000 )HRT. So my question is what do they need to know, to join this Class action? In NV. A gal got over a Million.
It would be hard for me to get records, for some reason they are here and there.
Also how much is it going to cost those that want to join. I will call the number. Thanks for the information .
Got breast Cancer in 2006.
Cancer free 1 year & 7 months.
Sharon
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I took menopausal hormones for 9 years before being diagnosed with ACC. I do feel that the two are related since mine was a very slow growing tumor. I choose to move on to a better, healthier future.
Rita
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I was on HRT for 2 years, right up to my diagnosis, July '05. I took it because the sleep deprivation, caused by my hot flashes and night sweats, was making me non-functional. I didn't give myself a break and just quit "doing". It could have been the cancer was a major factor in my fatigue, although my mammos didn't catch anything. Wow, looking back I couldn't have been thinking straight. I listened to my gyn who knew the risks and prescribed it anyway. She said the HRT didn't cause my BC. It may not have, I'll probably never know, but it sure as heck fed it for 2 years. A surgeon I talked to said she believes there is a connection, and that it's quite possible HRT and BC have a cause/effect relationship. My own research revealed that HRT may not be the cause of ER+, PgR- lobular like mine. Who knows?
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I'm so glad I found this link. I'm a stage one bc with TRAM reconstruction and consider myself very lucky. I did not take hormones, but a good friend of mine does and I try to talk with her about the risk she is taking. She thinks I am exaggarating because of my own diagnosis and am being insensitive to her hot flashes and insomnia. I am so angry about this! I just have to keep telling myself we are all adults and have to make our own decisions about health care, but I feel her doc has been terribly irresponsible in not educating her about the risks. Among other things, her mammogram was abnormal showing calcifications and needs to be repeated every 6 months. I worry so about this unnecessary risk. I thought surely with all the bad press HRT has gotten lately, she would be better informed.
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WOW, This is interesting to me because my mother due to removal of the thyroid has had to take thyroid hormone replacement pills and when her previous doctor passed and new ones were appointed they took her off of the previous medication (being Cytomel) and replaced it with Synthroid which is not only a HRT but also a steroid. I now am inclined to ask her if when her symptoms first occurred were they after the change of the medication or before. I will research this more and post my findings. Thank you for this advisement post.
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Hi all,
It's my understanding that evidence linking breast cancer to the use of oral contraceptives isn't yet conclusive. There are ongoing studies that suggest both positive and negative factors associated with OCs. Although OC may slightly increase a woman's chance of getting BC, that increase disappears within ten years of stopping the pill. Furthermore, OC appear to have a protective effect against ovarian cancer. Finally, cases of BC that appear in women who have taken oral contraceptives tend (as someone points out above) to be less aggressive and more easily treatable.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/oral-contraceptives
As far as HRT is concerned, I still think it's the luck of the draw. HRT isn't going to "give" someone BC unless there are other predisposing factors present as well (the percentage of increased risk is 30%, not 70%, thank God!). My mother was on hormones until she was 78 and has never had a problem. In fact, her bones are now as strong as those of a woman in her thirties, and she's 84. Idem for my aunt (she's 83). For them HRT was apparently a good thing.
Some BCs are not hormone receptive. Triple negative BC is apparently not influenced one way or the other by HRT. Again, I go with my breast surgeon's bottom line: "It's the luck of the draw, and some people simply get the short straw."
Cheers,
Annie
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"...they took her off of the previous medication (being Cytomel) and replaced it with Synthroid which is not only a HRT but also a steroid."
IL3, I think maybe you are confusing the "HRT" that's used to treat symptoms of menopause, with other types of drugs that are used to treat specific diseases of endocrine organs. Those are very different types of hormone treatments.
The "hormone replacement therapy" or HRT most people are discussing here is the use of estrogen with or without progesterone to alleviate the symptoms of menopause. Use of estrogen/progesterone HRT increases the risk of breast cancer, among other things, because some types of BC cells will grow in the presence of estrogen and/or progesterone. And, yes, estrogen and progesterone are both steroid hormones.
There are lots of other types of hormones, though, and many of them are not steroid hormones. Insulin, for example, is a hormone but it is not a steroid hormone. Adrenaline is another hormone that is not a steroid hormone. The hormones produced by the thyroid gland are not steroid hormones, either.
You said your mom was taking Cytomel because her thyroid gland had been removed, and she was switched at some point to Synthroid. Cytomel and Synthroid are synthetic versions of two closely related hormones that are normally produced by the thyroid gland--liothyronine and levothyroxine, respectively. Here's what the website "www.rxlist.com" says about levothyroxine and liothyronine:
"Thyroid hormone drugs are natural or synthetic preparations containing tetraiodothyronine (T4, levothyroxine) sodium or triiodothyronine (T3, liothyronine) sodium or both. T4 and T3 are produced in the human thyroid gland by the iodination and coupling of the amino acid tyrosine."I guess because Cytomel and Synthroid are used to replace the hormones normally made by the thyroid gland, their use could technically be considered "hormone replacement therapy." However, that gets confusing, because neither liothyronine nor levothyroxine is a steroid hormone.
Also, I don't think there is evidence that normal levels of thyroid hormones (endogenous or synthetic) have any relationship to BC. Since the Cytomel and Synthroid your mom was taking simply brought her thyroid hormone levels back to where they would normally be if she had a thyroid gland, I don't think she (or you) should be worried about taking those drugs.
Heaven knows, there are plenty of other things to worry about. I hope this information gives you some peace of mind.
otter
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I began taking Premarin 0.9 about 6 years ago, I decided to go off the HRT about 10 weeks ago and now I am feeling two palpable lumps in my right breast and at least one in the left breast. I wonder how long these lumps have been growing because when on HRT the breasts become more dense (and I am only 41) and now that I have been off the HRT for awhile my breasts are not as dense so I can feel them. I took birth control pills for at least nine years total between having children and then HRT for the last 6 years. I am having an ultrasound on Wed. Had mammo which showed clear but me, nurse, and surgeon all felt lumps so he is wanting this Ultrasound and he said maybe bx's next. If these lumps are fluid filled could they still be cancer? should I tell them to bx them anyway??? Thanks for your responses. Worried worried worried!!!!
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See what responses you get from other women here, but I always trusted my surgeon on this. He had a good reputation and I believed him. I had several fluid filled cysts that he did not biopsy -- he just drained. Others he did. Some lumps he did not biopsy because he felt they were too small and the risk of scarring (at that time) was such that it would mess up future mammograms. I'm not sure what the current criteria is, but a good surgeon should be on top of it. Be aware that most lumps are benign. They all need to be looked at, but don't worry too much until you have to. I must have had 10-12 benign lumps before I finally had a cancerous one. It is serious, but it may not be cancer. Best wishes.
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Hello! I have taken the highest dosage of Premarin that is on the market for nearly 25 years now. I had a biopsy conducted on a tight cluster of microcalcifications in 2007, and the result was B9. I am so grateful. Just had another mammogram approx 2 months ago, they said it was normal, but I have been having the most intense itching where they placed the titanum marker after my biopsy, and a very painful pulling sensation behind my nipple. The doctor who read my mammogram seemed totally disinterested in her job, and said to use lotion and it wouldn't itch. I have suffered from fibrocystic breasts since I was young. My doctor said after all the years I have taken the Premarin, I can continue to take it indefinitely. They put me on it after I had to undergo a hysterectomy when I was 25. Back then doctors didn't even discuss the risks, or at least mine didn't. It was just something they told me I would need to take, probably for the rest of my life. Thoughts??
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I have a couple of thoughts. One is that your doctor might be right on. You might be fine. I don't know what the current standards are. Another thought is are you sure you need the premarin? Have you ever tried going off of it to see what your symptoms are like -- how severe they are? Or tried a lower dose? Also -- taking any medication long term -- a thought might be to get a second opinion about a lower does or other meds to treat your symptoms (if you have them). I am a long ways from being an expert, but it seems to me that I read a lot about the risks associated with hormones.
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