J Menopausal Med.
2021 Dec;27(3):s9.
Relationship between the type of hormone replacement
- Affiliations
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- 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- 2Department of Policy Research Affairs, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea
- 3Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Republic of Korea
Abstract
Objective
After Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescription rate dropped by 16% in Korea. We investigated the relationship between the type of HRT and incidence of breast cancer (BC) in postmenopausal women in Korea. Material & Methods: We compared the prevalence of BC in 356,160 women on HRT, who reached menopause between 2004 and 2007. We divided the type and duration of HRT into three categories, i.e., estrogen-progestogen therapy (EPT), estrogen-only therapy (ET), tibolone, and 1– 3 years, 3–5 years, and ＞5 years, respectively.
Results
Regarding the type of HRT among all age groups, BC risk (BCR) was lower in the tibolone group (P＜0.01). Based on age group, BCR was lower in the 50–59 years group using EPT (P=0.03) and tibolone (P＜0.01). HRT administration for ＜3 years showed a significant decrease in the tibolone group (P=0.04) and an increase in the ET group (P=0.03). In groups undergoing HRT for ＞5 years, BCR in all groups decreased (P＜0.05).
Conclusions
The results suggest that tibolone reduces the risk of BC in women aged ≥50 years and HRT use for ≥5 years was related to significantly decreased BCR in Korea.
