Prognosis of breast cancers detected in women receiving hormone replacement therapy.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the influence of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) on various prognostic factors of breast cancer (BC).


METHODS
A multi-centre case-control study was conducted, in which a comparison was made of the differences between various histological and biological clinical variables of BC detected in 121 women undergoing HRT at the time of diagnosis, and those cancers detected in 121 women of similar age not undergoing HRT. The variables were also analysed in function of the type of HRT and the length of time treated.


RESULTS
The tumours detected in patients receiving HRT presented significantly lower tumoural stages, a lower degree of affected axillary lymph node dissemination, and a greater percentage of well-differentiated tumours and positive estrogen receptors than those detected in women not under HRT. Most of these results due principally to those patients who were undergoing


CONCLUSIONS
Although the better prognosis of tumours detected in women receiving HRT may be due largely to their diagnosis at earlier stages, there is an increasing body of data leading one to think that these tumours present certain histological and biological characteristics that make such cancers less aggressive.
Delgado
R C
RC
Catedrático y Jefe de Servicio de Obstetricia y Ginecología, Hospital Universitario Puerto Real (Cádiz). Facultad de Medicina de Cádiz, Carretera Nacional IV, Km 665, 11510 (Cádiz), Puerto Real, Spain.
Lubian Lopez
D M
DM
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires