Synthetic Hormones Cause Cancer – Bio-Identical Hormones Prevent Cancer
October 21, 2010, Scottsdale, AZ – A new study released yesterday from extended analysis of the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) reveals that postmenopausal women taking combined Synthetic Hormone Therapy have an increased risk of being diagnosed with a more advanced stage of breast cancer and dying from it than women who did not take synthetic hormones.
The eleven year follow-up of 16,608 WHI postmenopausal women ages 50 to 79 years, published in this week’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 385 women (0.42 percent) receiving hormones for an average of 5.6 years, developed invasive breast cancer, compared with 293 women (0.34 percent) who received a placebo.
The media’s reporting of this study outcome appears to incriminate all types of hormone therapy, whether Synthetic or Bio-Identical.
An accurate portrayal of objective data comparing the use of Synthetic vs Bio-identical hormones reveals that synthetic Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) increases the risk of breast cancer by 40%, while Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) reduces the risk of breast cancer by 10 to 30%.
Synthetic HRT Research
In 2002, the Women’s Health Initiative found that a combination of two synthetic estrogens (estrone and estradiol) plus synthetic progesterone, made by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, increased a women’s risk of breast cancer by 26%, her risk of a heart attack by 29%, her risk of stroke by 41% and her risk of blood clots by 113%. (Source: JAMA. 2002;288:321-333).
In February, 2009, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that women who take synthetic estrogen-progestin combination hormone therapy for more than five years suffer a doubling of their risk of getting breast cancer and the risk doubles again every additional twelve months they continue to take the drugs. (N Engl J Med. 2009 Feb 5;360(6):573-87)
Bio-Identical Hormone Research
In 2005 the Fournier E3N- European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort study published in the International Journal of Cancer followed 54,548 postmenopausal women who had not been on any kind of HRT for at least a year before entering the study. The average age was 53, and the study lasted for almost 6 years.
Compared to women who had never used HRT, taking Bio-Identical Estriol alone produced a 30% reduced risk of breast cancer; using Bio-Identical Estradiol plus natural progesterone lead to a 10% decreased risk of breast cancer; while using estradiol alone had a 10% increased risk of breast cancer and worst of all, taking estradiol plus synthetic progestins caused a 40% increased risk of breast cancer.
(Source: Fournier et al, “Breast cancer risk in relation to different types of hormone replacement therapy in the E3N-EPIC cohort,” Int J Cancer 2005 Apr 10;114(3):448-54.)
In January 2008, with eight years of follow-up, data was released from E3N showing that women using synthetic HRT had a 60% higher risk of cancer, while women using Bio-Identical Hormones still had the same risk as women using no HRT of any kind.
(Source: Fournier et al, “Unequal risks for breast cancer associated with different hormone replacement therapies: results from the E3N cohort study,” Breast Cancer Res Treat 2008 Jan;107(1):103-11.)
Estriol selectively binds to estrogen receptor-beta (ER-beta), which inhibits breast cell proliferation and prevents breast cancer development. (Source: Postgraduate medicine, Vol 121, Issue 1, January 2009; Endocrinology. 2006 Sep;147(9):4132-50. Epub 2006 May 25.)
Progesterone and Cancer
Progesterone increases the Tumor Suppressor Protein known as p53, which activates DNA repair and initiates programmed cell death (apoptosis) when DNA damage is irreparable. Additionally, it decreases the cancer activating protein known as bcl-2.
Estradiol, on the other hand, does the opposite of progesterone. It causes a decrease in p53 and activates bcl-2, which promotes cancer cell growth.
(Source: Ann Clin Lab Sci. 1998 Nov-Dec;28(6):360-9; Int J Cancer. 2003 Jul 10;105(5):607-12)
BHRT is a Safe and Effective Choice for Postmenopausal Women
European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) Studies have been ignored in the United States. These studies reveal that Synthetic Hormone Therapy causes cancer, while the Bio-Identical Hormones Estriol and Progesterone have been shown to reduce Breast Cancer risk.
These studies appear to be ignored in the U.S. because Bio-Identical Hormones cannot be patented and therefore are of no interest to pharmaceutical drug companies.
Bio-Identical Estriol and Progesterone provide postmenopausal women with safe and effective natural alternatives to synthetic Hormone Therapy.
