(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- The right combination of hormones could relieve
menopause symptoms and reduce the risk for breast cancer, new research shows.
Currently, women in menopause who have symptoms but haven't had a hysterectomy
are treated with a therapy that combines estrogen and progestin; but progestin
can be a double-edged sword. Administering progestin to patients puts them at a
greater risk for breast cancer, but giving estrogen to patients without
progestin increases their risk for uterine cancer.
Now, researchers at Yale say replacing progestin with a selective estrogen
receptor modulator (SERM) may be the solution. They treated breast and
endometrial cell lines with either estrogen or estrogen plus a SERM. They then
examined whether there was an increase in the levels of proliferating cell
nuclear antigen (PCNA), a marker of cell growth.
The study shows breast and uterine cells aren't stimulated by the estrogen-SERN
combination, and therefore it could offer the benefits of estrogen without the
risk associated with progestin.
"These preliminary findings could lead to a better way of administering hormone
therapy to women in menopause," Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., a professor in the
Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale University
in New Haven, Conn., was quoted as saying.
Source: American Society for Reproductive Medicine scientific meeting,
Atlanta, October 17-21, 2009
