The World Health Organization defines hormone replacement therapy as carcinogenic: Is this plausible?

Abstract

In June 2005 the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified combined hormone contraception and menopausal therapy as carcinogenic in humans. The IARC's function is to identify potential carcinogens associated with nutrition, environment and pharmaceutical products. They do not produce risk–benefit analyses for any country or population. Their conclusions are highly controversial in that no proof is presented for a causal relationship of estrogens with reproductive cancer, be it plausibility according to mechanisms of action or experimental evidence in an animal model. Equating natural compounds like estradiol with defined carcinogens like asbestos, tobacco smoke as well as indispensable drugs such as aspirin and tamoxifen is of no substantial clinical relevance. Thus, there are no new reasons to change current management principles with combination hormone contraception and therapy.

Keywords:

• Carcinogen
• estrogen
• hormone replacement therapy
• menopause
• progestogen