Abstract
Breast cancer is the commonest cancer among women in the western world,
accounting for up to 30% of all cancers in women. There is a
long-standing controversy about the potential link to hormone
replacement therapy (HRT), with large observational studies suggesting
that HRT increases the risk, while the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI),
a prospective, randomised placebo-controlled trial has reported several
times over a period of 20 years that combined (oestrogen and
progestogen) HRT increases the risk, while oestrogen-only HRT given to
women who have had a prior hysterectomy, is associated with a
significantly reduced risk of developing breast cancer.