Combined hormone replacement therapy may affect the effectiveness and accuracy of breast screening mammograms and tissue sample tests, called biopsies, study results show.

Lead researcher Dr Rowan Chlebowski, from Harbor-University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center, commented: “These findings represent a concern for postmenopausal women who are considering hormone therapy.”

Dr Chlebowski and team analysed data from a study of more than 16,600 postmenopausal women who took either a combination of oestrogen and progesterone or a dummy hormonal treatment for around 5 years.

In total, 199 of the women taking combined hormone therapy and 150 of those taking the dummy treatment developed breast cancer over the course of the study.

Abnormal mammogram results were significantly more common among women taking combined hormone treatment (35%) than among those taking the dummy treatment (23%). Indeed, women taking combined hormone therapy had a 4% greater risk of having a mammogram with abnormalities after 1 year and an 11% greater risk after 5 years compared with those taking the dummy treatment.

Learn More: Archives of Internal Medicine

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