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Cancer Risk Decreases When Women Stop Using estrogen, Progestin
Aired November 29, 2002 - 13:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In health news, it's a concern for millions of women taking combined hormone therapy: the risk of breast cancer. The National Institutes of Health researched those risks and is out with some significant findings.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen now joins us with the details.
Hi, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Kyra, you probably remember, back in July, there was a study from the National Institutes of Health that said that when women took the combined Progestin and estrogen hormone treatment, their chance of getting heart disease and breast cancer increased.
Well, many women asked themselves, so if I go off of these drugs, do I still have an increased risk of getting the diseases or does the risk go away when I stop taking the drugs?
Well, this new study that's out says that, at least for breast cancer, the risk seems to stop when you stop taking the drugs. In other words, you're at an increased risk of getting breast cancer while you're taking the drugs, but stop taking the drugs and your risk goes back down to normal.
So this isn't the final word on this, but it is a good indication that women don't have to worry about drugs that they were taking in the past. They just need to worry about what they're doing right now -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So how does this change things? How might it help women now?
COHEN: Well, for example, it might help a woman if she's having terrible symptoms of menopause, she can't go to work, she can't sleep well. She might be able to talk to her doctor and say, you know what, maybe I'll go on them for just a short period of time and then get off of them, now that we think the risk seems to go down once you get off of them. It's another piece of the puzzle that will help women make better decisions.
PHILLIPS: Is there a bottom line when I ask the question, what are women to do? COHEN: There is a bottom line. You talk to your doctor and you decide, you know what, how much risk do I want to take? Again, if you have terrible symptoms, you might decide that it's worth taking the risk. The risk is there, but its not gigantic.
If you put 10,000 women on hormones for one year, you would see eight extra cases of breast cancer because of the hormone replacement therapy. Some women might say, you know what, eight extra cases out of 10,000 women, I'm willing to take the risk. Others might say, you know what, my symptoms aren't that bad. I'm just going to go without medication. I don't want to take the risk.
It all depends on what risk you want to take and what's your family history of breast cancer and heart disease -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And I've always -- I've asked you this in the past about alternative treatments. Anything new, any new developments with that, from what you've talked to us about in the past?
COHEN: There was a study that came out that looked at all the studies done on alternatives for menopausal symptoms. And what it found is that an herb, called Black Cohosh, does show some promise in treating the symptoms of menopause.
It also found that if you eat foods with lots of soy in them that that also might help against the symptoms. So there are alternatives. If you don't want to take the hormones, you can talk to your doctors about some of these alternatives.
PHILLIPS: Now, there is a difference between eating the soy in foods versus the soy pills, right?
COHEN: Right. This -- what the research recommends is it recommends the food rather than the supplements, not that there's necessarily anything wrong with the supplements, but there just seems to be more evidence for the food at this point.
PHILLIPS: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, Thank you.
COHEN: Thank you, Kyra.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Progestin>
Aired November 29, 2002 - 13:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In health news, it's a concern for millions of women taking combined hormone therapy: the risk of breast cancer. The National Institutes of Health researched those risks and is out with some significant findings.
CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen now joins us with the details.
Hi, Elizabeth.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.
Kyra, you probably remember, back in July, there was a study from the National Institutes of Health that said that when women took the combined Progestin and estrogen hormone treatment, their chance of getting heart disease and breast cancer increased.
Well, many women asked themselves, so if I go off of these drugs, do I still have an increased risk of getting the diseases or does the risk go away when I stop taking the drugs?
Well, this new study that's out says that, at least for breast cancer, the risk seems to stop when you stop taking the drugs. In other words, you're at an increased risk of getting breast cancer while you're taking the drugs, but stop taking the drugs and your risk goes back down to normal.
So this isn't the final word on this, but it is a good indication that women don't have to worry about drugs that they were taking in the past. They just need to worry about what they're doing right now -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So how does this change things? How might it help women now?
COHEN: Well, for example, it might help a woman if she's having terrible symptoms of menopause, she can't go to work, she can't sleep well. She might be able to talk to her doctor and say, you know what, maybe I'll go on them for just a short period of time and then get off of them, now that we think the risk seems to go down once you get off of them. It's another piece of the puzzle that will help women make better decisions.
PHILLIPS: Is there a bottom line when I ask the question, what are women to do? COHEN: There is a bottom line. You talk to your doctor and you decide, you know what, how much risk do I want to take? Again, if you have terrible symptoms, you might decide that it's worth taking the risk. The risk is there, but its not gigantic.
If you put 10,000 women on hormones for one year, you would see eight extra cases of breast cancer because of the hormone replacement therapy. Some women might say, you know what, eight extra cases out of 10,000 women, I'm willing to take the risk. Others might say, you know what, my symptoms aren't that bad. I'm just going to go without medication. I don't want to take the risk.
It all depends on what risk you want to take and what's your family history of breast cancer and heart disease -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: And I've always -- I've asked you this in the past about alternative treatments. Anything new, any new developments with that, from what you've talked to us about in the past?
COHEN: There was a study that came out that looked at all the studies done on alternatives for menopausal symptoms. And what it found is that an herb, called Black Cohosh, does show some promise in treating the symptoms of menopause.
It also found that if you eat foods with lots of soy in them that that also might help against the symptoms. So there are alternatives. If you don't want to take the hormones, you can talk to your doctors about some of these alternatives.
PHILLIPS: Now, there is a difference between eating the soy in foods versus the soy pills, right?
COHEN: Right. This -- what the research recommends is it recommends the food rather than the supplements, not that there's necessarily anything wrong with the supplements, but there just seems to be more evidence for the food at this point.
PHILLIPS: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, Thank you.
COHEN: Thank you, Kyra.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Progestin>
