ABSTRACT - Further analysis of data from Women's Health Initiative reveals that combination estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy not only stimulates growth of breast cancer, as reported in July 2002, but also makes tumors harder to detect, leading to dangerous delays in diagnosis; women taking combination therapy are also more likely to have changes in their breast tissue that lead to abnormal mammograms, problems that can show up as soon as first year of hormone use; study raises questions about safety of even short-term use of combination therapy, and Wyeth, maker of Prempro, most popular brand, says it should be taken for shortest duration of time at lowest dose; editorial in Journal of American Medical Assn, where study is published, say it provides further compelling evidence against use of combination therapy; more than half of six million women who were taking combination therapy in July 2002 have since given it up; second study finds that women who take estrogen only, without progestin, have no increased risk of breast cancer, even if they take hormone for 25 years or more; estrogen alone can cause cancer of uterus and is prescribed only for women who have had hysterectomies (M) One year after a major study linked postmenopausal hormone therapy to an increased risk of breast cancer, new findings from the same study paint an even more ominous picture of the hormones' role in the disease.

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