Increased Risk of Recurrence After Hormone Replacement Therapy in Breast Cancer Survivors

Lars Holmberg, Ole-Erik Iversen, Carl Magnus Rudenstam, Mats Hammar, Eero
Kumpulainen, Janusz Jaskiewicz, Jacek Jassem, Daria Dobaczewska, Hans E. Fjosne, Octavio Peralta, Rodrigo Arriagada, Marit Holmqvist, and Johanna Maenpa
On behalf of the HABITS Study Group
J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 2008 100: 475-482.

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Hormone replacement therapy (HT) is known to increase the risk of breast cancer in healthy women, but its effect on breast cancer risk in breast cancer survivors is less clear. The randomized HABITS study, which compared HT for menopausal symptoms with best management without hormones among women with previously treated breast cancer, was stopped early due to suspicions of an increased risk of new breast cancer events following HT.

Conclusion: After extended follow-up, there was a clinically and statistically significant increased risk of a new breast cancer event in survivors who took HT.

Disparities and Trends in Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy Among Early-Stage Breast Cancer Patients (1998-2005)

Amy Y. Chen, Michael T. Halpern, Nicole M. Schrag, Andrew Stewart, Marilyn Leitch, and Elizabeth Ward
J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 2008 100: 462-474

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The use of sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) during breast cancer surgery increased substantially from 1998 through 2005, according to an article published online March 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. However, non-white women, older women, and those living in poorer areas of the U.S. were less likely to receive SLNB than their counterparts who are white, younger, or from more affluent areas, respectively.

Conclusions: Although use of SLNB increased from 1998 to 2005, disparities persisted in receipt of SLNB that are based on nonclinical factors, including sociodemographic characteristics and insurance status.