Possible Fix for a Risky Hormone Mix

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. – American Society for Reproductive Medicine