Prof John Eden says not all hormone therapies have the same risk.

September 25th, 2020

Prof John Eden, Reproductive Endocrinologist and Gynaecologist, has specialised in hormonal treatment for the symptoms of menopause for over thirty years.
“Recent media attention has worried women that HRT causes breast cancer, when the latest scientific evidence is that this is simply not true.” 
Watch his expert video for the latest evidence before you stop your therapy and please have your regular mammograms.

Read Prof Eden’s full statement below. 

What do the studies say about modern HRT? 

The latest evidence is that it takes decades to “get breast cancer” and that hormones have little role in triggering of the breast cancer, but may have a role in it growing a little faster. This means that that detection may be six to twelve months sooner than the lump may have otherwise have been diagnosed.

What is the update on breast cancer? 

The good news is that over the last thirty years the death rate from breast cancer in Australia has halved. About 3 out of 4 of breast cancers are mammogram-detected. Early stage mammogram-detected breast cancers have a 5 year survival rate of almost 100% and a 20 year survival of around 90%.

Regular mammograms save lives.

So, the key message is to have your 2-yearly mammograms if you are over 50. The average estrogen-sensitive breast cancer takes 7 years to grow from the tiny first cell to a 3-4 mm mammogram detected breast cancer and another 7 years to become big enough to feel on breast self-examination.

For more information see our Health Information section for topics such as Body Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy, Menopause after Breast Cancer and many more.