Combined oestrogen and progestin has equivocal effect on gynaecological cancers

Question. Does oestrogen plus progestin affect the rate of gynaecologic cancers in healthy post-menopausal women? Study design. Double blind randomised controlled trial. Main results. There were no significant differences in the incidence of ovarian or endometrial cancers between groups (see Table 1). The distribution of class and grade of disease and its severity at diagnosis did not differ between groups. More women in the hormone group required unplanned biopsies (33% vs. 6%, p<0.001), with a greater proportion of successful biopsies revealing normal results (85% vs 68%, p <0.001). A table is presented. Authors' conclusions. Rates of ovarian and endometrial cancers were low in both groups, suggesting that these results need not unduly influence women when considering treatment for menopausal symptoms. Combined oestrogen plus progestin may slightly alter the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancer, and needs confirmation.