HOMEPRODUCTSCOMPANYCONTACTFAQResearchDictionaryPharmaSign Up FREE or Login

New evidence regarding hormone replacement therapies is urgently required transdermal postmenopausal hormone therapy differs from oral hormone therapy in risks and benefits.

Abstract
Controversies about the safety of different postmenopausal hormone therapies (HTs) started 30 years ago and reached a peak in 2003 after the publication of the results from the Women Health Initiative (WHI) trial and the Million Women Study (MWS) [Writing group for the women's health initiative investigations. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women. JAMA 2002;288:321-33; Million women study collaborators. Breast cancer and hormone-replacement therapy in the million women study. Lancet 2003;362:419-27]. The single HT formulation used in the WHI trial for non hysterectomized women-an association of oral conjugated equine estrogens (CEE-0.625 mg/day) and a synthetic progestin, medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA-2.5 mg/day)-increases the risks of venous thromboembolism, cardiovascular disease, stroke and breast cancer. The MWS, an observational study, showed an increased breast cancer risk in users of estrogens combined with either medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), norethisterone, or norgestrel. It is unclear and questionable to what extent these results might be extrapolated to other HRT regimens, that differ in their doses, compositions and administration routes, and that were not assessed in the WHI trial and the MWS. Significant results were achieved with the publication of the WHI estrogen-only arm study [Anderson GL, Limacher M, Assaf AR, et al. Effects of conjugated equine estrogen in postmenopausal women with hysterectomy: the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA 2004;291:1701-1712] in which hormone therapy was reserved to women who had carried out hysterectomy. What emerged from this study will allow us to have some important argument to develop.
AuthorsMaria Grazia Modena, Piero Sismondi, Alfred O Mueck, Frédérique Kuttenn, Bruno de Lignières, Johan Verhaeghe, Jean Michel Foidart, Anne Caufriez, Andrea Riccardo Genazzani, TREAT
JournalMaturitas (Maturitas) Vol. 52 Issue 1 Pg. 1-10 (Sep 16 2005) ISSN: 0378-5122 [Print] Ireland
PMID15963666 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)
Chemical References
  • Estrogens, Conjugated (USP)
  • Medroxyprogesterone Acetate
Topics
  • Administration, Cutaneous
  • Administration, Oral
  • Estrogen Replacement Therapy (adverse effects)
  • Estrogens, Conjugated (USP) (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (administration & dosage, adverse effects)
  • Menopause
  • Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
  • Risk Assessment

Join CureHunter, for free Research Interface BASIC access!

Take advantage of free CureHunter research engine access to explore the best drug and treatment options for any disease. Find out why thousands of doctors, pharma researchers and patient activists around the world use CureHunter every day.
Realize the full power of the drug-disease research graph!


Choose Username:
Email:
Password:
Verify Password:
Enter Code Shown: