Estrogen Found To Increase Risk Of Benign Breast Disease

Boston (dbTechno) - According to a new study published by U.S. researchers, women who took a common estrogen supplement as hormone replacement therapy during menopause had over double the risk of developing benign breast disease, or benign breast lumps.

Those who took estrogen supplements were found to have more than double the risk of developing the benign breast disease or non-cancerous breast lumps.

A particular type of the benign breast disease, benign proliferative breast disease, is believed to be a stepping sone to breast cancer over the course of the next 10 years.

The study looked at the long-term risk of hormone therapy. Women who go through hysterectomies are able to go through hormonen replacement therapy in the form of estrogen-only therapy.

The researchers, led by Dr. Tom Rohan of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York has reviewed breast biopsies on over 10,000 women in the study.

The researchers have reported that women who were given estrogen-only therapy had more than double the risk of developing benign breast disease, compared directly to women who were given a placebo.

Benign proliferative breast disease has been linked in the past with an increased risk of breast cancer.

The study has been published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.