Published Study Proves Link Between Estrogen And Cancer

A study reported in the February issue of The New England Journal of Medicine confirms the association between the use of estrogen and cancer of the uterus.

"The risks (for women who have not had a hysterectomy and who take estrogen) are remarkably high. You don't see anything like it in the human population," Dr. Kenneth J. Rothman, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, said yesterday.

The research team which authored the article also suggests that the increased risk associated with the use of estrogen declines quickly after intake is discontinued.

"Unlike the situation for smokers, where the risk of contracting lung cancer can remain for decades after one stops smoking, the risk of contracting endometrial cancer seems to decline rapidly after women stop taking estrogen,' Rothman, who collaborated on the research and writing of the article, said.

The incidence of cancer among women who do not use estrogen is less than one-tenth that of women who take estrogen, the article reports. The incidence of cancer among those who use estrogen is between 1 and 3 per cent.

Estrogen is widely used to treat menopause. However, the use of estrogen has declined since studies first reported the high probability of a link between the hormone and uterine cancer in 1975.

Dr. Hershel Jick of Boston University, who headed the research team, said yesterday there has been an epidemic of uterine cancer in the United States since the mid '60s. The number of cases has recently declined, he added.

The overall drop is attributable to the decline in use of estrogen over the last three years, Hershel said.