Abstract
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is associated with increased risk of breast cancer
(BC), but little evidence assesses the effects of potential effect-modifiers on HRT-related
BC. We sought to examine the relationship of different HRT types/method use and risk
of BC in US postmenopausal women. In total, 689 BC cases and 81 BC deaths were identified
during 372,210 person-years of follow-up. Cox regression and competing risk regression
were used to estimate multivariable-adjusted hazards ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence
intervals (95% CIs) by HRT status (never, former, current) for risk of BC incidence
and mortality. The total current HRT use was associated with an increased risk of
BC (HR current vs. never, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.33, 2.11), but did not associate with risk
of death from BC (HR current vs. never, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.40, 1.78). Furthermore, underweight
women (BMI <20 kg/m2, HR current vs. never, 12.05, 95% CI, 1.46, 99.75) were more likely to take increased
risk of BC from HRT use compared to the obese (BMI >30 kg/m2, HR current vs never, 1.19; 95% CI, 0.73, 1.97). This study suggests that HRT use
was associated with an altered risk of the occurrence of BC in the US postmenopausal
women, especially for underweight women.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
PLCO (the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal and Ovarian Cancer Screening Trial), HRT (hormone replacement therapy), SQX (supplemental questionnaire), IQR (interquartile range), HR (hazards ratios), CI (confidence intervals)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 26, 2021
Accepted:
June 22,
2021
Received in revised form:
June 4,
2021
Received:
March 11,
2021
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc.
