Home > JAMA REPORT > Breast Cancer Risk ongoing after stopping Hormones Get the Flash Player to see this player. Rate: (Click the stars to rate) Published on Mar 05, 2008 by RWallace, Views: 6983 JAMA Report: THe womens health initiative was a major study which was halted after researchers found increased health risks in patients taking hormone replacement therapy. Now a new study in JAMA shows that the risk on breast cancer continues 3 years after stopping the medications. This study is valid ONLY for HRT that consisted of CONJUGATED EQUINE ESTROGENS (CEE) and MEDROXYPROGESTERONE ACETATE. This is NOT, I repeat NOT, a reflection on the effects of natural human estradiol-17-beta USP and progesterone USP. "Estrogen" is a word that defines a CLASS of molecules with estrogenic effects. "Progestin" is a word that defines a CLASS of molecules with progestagenic effects. NEITHER are distinct molecules in their own right, and ALL MEMBERS OF THE SAME CLASS DO NOT BEHAVE THE SAME. That is why some progestins (like drospirenone) are non-androgenic and are therefore more useful in managing acne than others that are androgenic (like levonorgestrel). And that is likely why Ayerst-Wyeth's androgenic Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) was associated with the breast cancers when it was added to the CEE in the WHI study quoted. PLEASE be specific in your reporting, using only the actual chemical names that describe these molecules, not the names of their chemical classes. You might just as well call them all 'sex hormones' for all the utility and specificity that moniker provides. F. W. Danby, MD, FRCPC Adjunct Asst Prof Medicine (Dermatology) Dartmouth Medical School. 603-494-5181 F William Danby 14.2 years ago