Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access originally published online on April 8, 2008
JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2008 100(8):596-597; doi:10.1093/jnci/djn077
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press.
CORRESPONDENCE |
Re: Breast Cancer Incidence, 1980–2006: Combined Roles of Menopausal Hormone Therapy, Screening Mammography, and Estrogen Receptor Status
Affiliation of author: Cancer Surgery Sciences, Pasadena, CA
Correspondence to: David Z. J. Chu, MD, Cancer Surgery Sciences, 959 E. Walnut, #120, Pasadena, CA 91106 (e-mail: davidzjchu{at}yahoo.com).
Glass et al. (1) recently reported an 18% decrease in rates of estrogen receptor–positive breast cancer in 2003–2004 that they postulated to be associated with changes in hormone therapy use. A similar breast cancer incidence drop was also reported by Ravdin et al. (2). The substantial drop in hormone usage by postmenopausal women followed the dissemination of the findings in the publication from the Women's Health Initiative by Rossouw et al. (3), who reported a 26% increase in breast cancer rates after a median of 5 years’ use of hormone combination therapy.
Hormone use is associated with increased density and palpability of breast tissue, resulting in an increased number of physician visits and a subsequent increase in number of breast biopsies. This effect, in cessation of hormone use, will temporally delay the diagnoses of breast cancer for a few years. Whether this hypothesis explains the finding observed by Glass et al. (1) could be verified if the authors examined the rate of breast biopsies in their institution among women on and off hormones and their relative incidence of breast cancer.
REFERENCES
1. Glass AG, Lacey JV, Carreon JD, Hoover RN. Breast cancer incidence, 1980–2006: combined roles of menopausal hormone therapy, screening mammography, and estrogen receptor status. J Natl Cancer Inst (2007) 99(15):1152–1161.
2. Ravdin PM, Cronin KA, Howlader N, et al. The decrease in breast-cancer incidence in 2003 in the US. N Engl J Med (2007) 356(16):1670–1674.
3. Rossouw JE, Anderson GL, Prentice RL, et al. Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: principal results from the Women's Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA (2002) 288(3):321–333.
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