Article: Estrogen, an Aid Against Heart Disease, Raises Breast Cancer Risk in Study

Women who take daily doses of estrogen after menopause have about a 36 percent greater risk of developing breast cancer than women not taking the hormone, but the excess risk disappears within a year or two if a woman stops the drug, according to a study published today.

"Estrogen replacement therapy" is widely prescribed for women after menopause because studies have established that daily doses of the female hormone can reduce the incidence of heart disease and osteoporosis, a gradual weakening of the bones that can lead to disabling hip and spinal fractures.

But experts have long worried that giving older women estrogen might increase the frequency of breast cancer, which kills about ...

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