An analysis of 52 separate studies has found that hormone replacement therapy increases the risk of ovarian cancer. BBC News reports that the University of Oxford research found an extra case for every 1,000 women taking the drugs for five years from the age of 50. Lead researcher Sir Richard Peto said claims there was no risk for short courses of HRT "simply isn't true".
Medical charities said the findings were robust, but said the risk did fall after HRT stopped. In the UK, women take HRT mostly for between two and five years and there is an increased risk of breast cancer, which has been well documented. However, the drugs have also been found to reduce the risk of osteoporosis and bowel cancers. But the impact on ovarian cancer has been debated, particularly for those taking the drug for less than five years.
Scientists behind the latest study, which looked at data from 52 separate studies including 21,500 women with ovarian cancer, say it proves there is a link. Commenting on the findings, Prof Montserrat Garcia-Closas, from the Institute of Cancer Research in London, said: "There's been a question for a long time about how solid the evidence was and this paper shows really very convincingly that there is an association." But she cautioned: "It's a modest increase on a relatively uncommon cancer. For the general impact on a woman of average risk, then breast cancer will be a more important consideration than ovarian cancer."
[link url="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-31439203"]Full BBC News report[/link]
[link url="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)61687-1/abstract"]The Lancet abstract[/link]