HT Lung Cancer RiskHT Lung Cancer Risk This article on Hormone Therapy and its link to lung cancer was written for Modern Medicine. The Journal of Clinical Oncology has published the medical research study results that lung cancer incidences are 50% higher in women who take estrogen plus progestin for more than ten years. That's a really significant risk! I quote from the article: "Older women who receive estrogen plus progestin hormone replacement therapy (HRT), especially for long periods of time, may have an increased risk of lung cancer, according to a study published online Feb. 16 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. "These findings represent an important contribution to current evidence against HRT use, which may be useful for counseling women about their risk of developing lung cancer, as well as prompting further study about the biologic mechanisms underlying this association," the authors conclude." This, of course, doesn't talk about all the different types of hormone therapies. Each HT carries different risks, and each individual carries different risks for different diseases. Still, you will need to discuss your individual risks and benefits with your doctor. Conclusion for HT Lung Cancer Risk I know I have said this before, but some side effects are just a little more serious than others, for example life-threatening side effects. Whenever I think about the term "increased risk" I have to feel a little sad because what they are talking about is a statistic. The statistics have shown... The reality is that those statistics are people. They are our mothers, sisters, friends, cousins, co-workers and maybe even us.
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