Estrogen safe after uterus removal

Post-menopausal women who have had hysterectomies can safely take estrogen-alone therapy without raising their breast cancer risk, a large U.S. study suggests.

The finding comes from the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) and contrasts dramatically with another part of the study, which reported three years ago that post-menopausal women given both estrogen and progestin showed a definite spike in breast cancer risk.

The latest findings apply only to women who can safely take estrogen alone because they have undergone a hysterectomy. But they are the largest group of hormone users to quell hot flashes and other symptoms.

Women should still use the lowest possible dose of hormone therapy for the shortest possible time, the experts said, adding that no one should take estrogen alone to reduce their risk for breast cancer because the hormone carries other potential dangers.

"The jury is now in: Estrogen does not increase the risk for breast cancer, which is what most women thinking about using the hormone worry about," said Marcia Stefanick of Stanford University, who led the analysis being published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings also suggest that it is the hormone progestin, not estrogen, or perhaps the combination of the two, that increases the risk of breast cancer.

"Progestin is definitely a top suspect," Stefanick said.

The latest findings also suggest that estrogen raises older women's risk of blood clots but not as much as supplements that also contain progestin.

Women who had previous clots faced the highest risk of developing new clots. As a result, the researchers said estrogen use should be discouraged in such women unless they are taking blood thinners.

Most women in the study with clots had deep vein thrombosis, which involves clots that form in large veins, usually in the leg. These clots can travel to the lungs, sometimes with deadly consequences.

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